THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 

NORTH  CAROUNLANA 

ENDOWED  BY 

JOHN  SPRUNT  HILL 

CLASS  OF  1889 


CB 
J13J1 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00032195295 


This  book  must  not 
be  taken  from  the 
Library  building. 


Form  No.   471 


The  Principles  of 
American  Statesmanship 


The  Theory,   Development  and  Administration 

of  Government  in  America 

as  shown  in  the 

Writings  of  American  Statesmen 


Edited  by 
Francis    Newton  Thorpe,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

Fellow,   and   Professor  of  American  Constitutional  History  in  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  1885-1898;    Member  of  the  American   Historical  Associa- 
tion, etc.,  etc.;    Author  of  The   Constitutional  History  of  the  United 
States,  A  Constitutional  History  of  the  American  People,  etc.,  etc. 


9inlireto  S^ackson 


New  York 

The  Tandy-Thomas  Company 


The  Union  must  be  preserved  and  its  laws  duly 
executed,  but  by  proper  means.  With  calmness  and 
firmness  such  as  becomes  those  who  are  conscious  of 
being  right  and  are  assured  of  the  support  of  public 
opinion.  We  must  perform  our  duties  without  expect- 
ing that  there  are  those  around  us  desiring  to  tempt 
us  into  the  wrong.  We  must  act  as  the  instruments 
of  the  law,  and  if  force  is  opposed  to  us,  in  that 
capacity  then  we  shall  repel  it,  with  the  certainty, 
even  should  we  fall  as  individuals,  that  the  friends 
of  liberty  and  Union  will  still  be  strong  enough  to 
prostrate  their  enemies. — Andrew  Jackson's  letter 
to  J.  R.  Poinsett,  October  26,  1830.     j^et.  63. 


The  Statesmanship  of 

ANDREW  JACKSON 


as  told  in  his 
Writings  and  Speeches 


Edited  by 
Francis   Newton  Thorpe,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 


New  York 
The  Tandy-Thomas  Company 


Copyright,  igog,  hy 
THE    TANDY-THOMAS    COMPANY 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Biographical  Outline 7 

Jackson's  Cabinet lo 

Introduction ii 


LETTERS   OF   NULLIFICATION,  1830-1833: 
To  Robert  Oliver,  October  26,  1830  . 
To  Joel  R.  Poinsett,  December  2,  1832 
To  Joel  R.  Poinsett,  December  9,  1832 
To  Joel  R.  Poinsett,  January  16,  1833 
To  Joel  R.  Poinsett,  January  24,  1833 
To  Joel  R.  Poinsett,  February  7,  1833 
To  Joel  R.  Poinsett,  February  17,  1833 


N' 


17 
18 

21 
32 

25 

27 


STATE   PAPERS,  1829-1837 : 

First  Inaugural  Address,  March  4,  1829       .         .         -31 
First  Annual  Message,  December  8,  1829   .         .         •     35 

Veto  Message,  May  27,  1830 66 

Second  Annual  Message,  December  6,  1830         .         .     82 
Message  on  Indian  Affairs,  February  22,  1 831      .         -125 
Third  Annual  Message,  December  6,1831.         .         -133 
Veto  Message,  Bank  of  the  United  States,  July  10,  1832  .   154 
Fourth  Annual  Message,  December  4,  1832  .         .         -177 
Message  on  the  South  Carolina  Ordinance  and  Procla- 
mation of  Governor  Hamilton,  January  1 6,  1833      .   200 
Anti-Nullification  Proclamation,  December  10,  1832    .  232 
<^              Second  Inaugural  Address,  March  4,  1833    .         .         -257 
^^             Removal  of  the  Public  Deposits — Paper  Read  to  the 
.  Cabinet,  September  18,  1833 261 

t 


6  Contents 

STATE   PAPERS,   lZ2g-lSl^— Continued 

Fifth  Annual  Message,  December  3,  1833    .         .  .  282 

Veto  Message — Public  Lands,  December  4,  1833  .  .  305 

Protest  on  the  Expunging  Resolution,  April  15,  1834  .   325 

Sixth  Annual  Message,  December  1,  1834    .         .  .361 

Seventh  Annual  Message,  December  7,  1835         .  .  399 

Message  on  Affairs  with  France,  January  15,  1836  .  443 

Eighth  Annual  Message,  December  5,  1836  .  .  -451 

Message  on  Texas  and  Mexico,  December  21,  1836  .  487 

Farewell  Address,  March  4,  1837         .  .  .  493 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 517 


INDEX 


52T 


Biographical    Outline. 

1767 — March  1 5.       Born,  Waxhaw  Settlement,  South  Caro- 

Hna,  of  Irish  parents.  Death  of  his 
father.  Taken  prisoner,  with  his 
brother,  by  the  British,  and  confined 
for  a  time  at  Camden.  Death  of  his 
two  brothers  during  the  Revolu- 
tion. 

1780 — (1781?).         Death  of  his  mother. 

1 78 1 — 1784.  Working  as  best  he  could,  and  some 

time  at  the  saddler's  trade. 

1784 — .  Law-student  at  Salisbury,  N.  C. 

1788 — .  Through  Superior  Court  Judge  John 

McNairy  appointed  Public  Prose- 
cutor of  the  Western  District  of 
N.  C.  (Tennessee). 

1791 — July  or  Aug.  Married   Rachel  Donelson,   widow   of 

Lewis  Robards,  at  Natchez,  Miss. 

1794 — January.  Second  marriage  ceremony. 

1796 — Jan.-Feb.        Member   of   Tennessee    Constitutional 

Convention ;  said  to  have  suggested 
the  name  of  the  State.  Elected 
Member  of  Congress. 

17^ — .  Elected    U.     S.     Senator    to    succeed 

Blount,  expelled.  Resigned,  April, 
1798. 

1798 — .  Elected    Judge    of    Supreme    Court, 

Tennessee. 

1801 — .  Elected  Major-General  of  Militia. 

1804 — .  Resigned  as  judge.     Devoted  himself 

to  business. 

1806 — .  Duel     with     Dickinson;     seriously 

wounded. 

7 


8  Andrew  Jackson 

1813 — January. 


September. 
1814 — May  31. 

181 5 — January  8. 
March. 

1818— . 

1 82 1—. 
1823—. 


1824 — March. 


1828—. 

1829 — March  i. 
November. 

1830 — April  13. 


Enters   mihtary   service    (volunteers) 

War  of  1812. 
Duel  with  Benton.    The  Creek  War. 

Appointed  Major-General  in  U.  S. 
Army. 

Battle  of  New  Orleans. 

Fined  $1,000  by  Judge  Hall ;  refunded, 
principal  and  interest,  by  act  of 
Congress,  1844. 

Carries  the  war  into  Florida.  Case  of 
Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister.  Sem- 
inole War. 

Governor  of  Florida. 

Declined  mission  to  Mexico.  Elected 
U.  S.  Senator  from  Tennessee. 
Talked  of  as  a  presidential  candi- 
date. Nominated  by  several  State 
Legislatures,  beginning  with  Ten- 
nessee, July  20,  1823. 

The  Harrisburg  convention  "  stam- 
peded "  for  Jackson.  Received  99 
electoral  votes;  Adams,  84;  Craw- 
ford, 41 ;  Clay,  37.  Adams  elected 
by  the  House  of  Representatives. 
(February  9,  1825.) 

Author  of  the  rumor  of  a  "  corrupt 
bargain  "  between  Clay  and  Adams. 

Elected  President.  Jackson,  electoral 
votes,  178;  Adams,  83. 

Inaugurated  President. 

Breaks  with  Calhoun.  Slated  by  his 
"  managers  "  to  succeed  himself  as 
President. 

Jackson's  toast  at  the  Jefferson  dinner : 
"  Our  Federal  Union :  It  must  be 
preserved !  " 


Biographical    Outline 


1830 — May. 


1832 — July  10. 


Dec.  10. 
1833 — March  4. 
Sept.  18. 

1834 — March. 


1835— Jan.  30- 
1836 — Jan.  18. 


1837 — March  4. 
March  7. 

1837— 1845. 


1845 — June  8. 


Maysville  Road  veto.  Attacks  the 
United  States  Bank  in  his  first  An- 
nual Message  (1829)  and  in  later 
Messages. 

Veto  of  the  Bank. 

Re-elected  President :  Jackson,  elect- 
oral votes,  219;  Clay,  49;  Floyd,  11 
(S.  C,  Nullification  ticket)  ;  Wirt, 
7  (Vt.,  Anti-masonic). 

Anti-Nullification  Proclamation. 
Inaugurated  President. 

Removal  of  the  Deposits.  See  "  Paper 
read  to  the  Cabinet." 

Censure  of  the  President  by  the  Sen- 
ate. This  resolution  was  "  ex- 
punged, by  order  of  the  Senate," 
January  16,  1837. 

Attempt  to  assassinate  the  President. 

Special  Message  on  relations  with 
France.  Compare  with  Annual 
Messages,  1834,  1835,  1836.  See 
also  Messages  of  1835,  1836,  1837 
for  information  on  relations  with 
Texas,  slavery,  the  public  lands, 
foreign  affairs. 

Jackson's  political  influence  thrown  in 
favor  of  Van  Buren  as  his  suc- 
cessor. 

Inauguration  of  Van  Buren. 

Jackson  leaves  Washington  for  his 
home  near  Nashville,  "  The  Her- 
mitage," Tennessee. 

Remains  chief  of  the  Democratic 
Party ;  consulted  freely  and  used  as 
far  as  possible  as  a  political  asset  by 
ambitious  and  designing  politicians. 

Died  at  "  The  Hermitage." 


Jackson's   Cabinet. 


Secretary  of  State — 

'  Martin  Van  Buren,  New  York,  March  6,  1829. 
Edward  Livingstone,  Louisiana,  May  24,  1831. 
Louis  McLane,  Delaware,  May  29,  1833. 
John  Forsyth,  Georgia,  June  27,  1834. 

Secretary  of  Treasury — 

Samuel  D.  Ingham,  Pennsylvania,  March  6,  1829. 
Louis  McLane,  Delaware,  August  8,  1831. 
William  J.  Duane,  Pennsylvania,  May  29,  1833. 
Roger  B.  Taney,  Maryland,  September  23,  1833. 
Levi  Woodbury,  New  Hampshire,  June  27,  1834. 

Secretary  of  War — 

John  H.  Eaton,  Tennessee,  March  9,  1829. 
Lewis  Cass,  Michigan,  August  i,  1831. 

Secretary  of  Navy — 

John  Branch,  North  Carolina,  March  9,  1829. 
Levi  Woodbury,  New  Hampshire,  May  23,  1831. 
Mahlon  Dickerson,  New  Jersey,  June  30,  1834. 

Attorney-General — 

John  M.  Berrien,  Georgia,  March  9,  1829. 
Roger  B,  Taney,  Maryland,  July  20,  1831. 
Benjamin  F.  Butler,  New  York,  November  15,  1833. 

Postmaster-General — 

William  T.  Barry,  Kentucky,  March  9,  1829. 
Amos  Kendall,  Kentucky,  May  i,  1835. 


Introduction. 

For  nearly  forty  years  Andrew  Jackson  was  the  most 
popular  man  in  America;  from  the  day  when  he  won  the 
great  victory  at  New  Orleans  until  his  last  utterances  at 
"  The  Hermitage,"  the  common  people  heard  and  followed 
him  gladly :  and  for  years  after  his  death,  his  name  was  a 
name  to  be  conjured  with  in  American  politics.  He  left  the 
presidency  as  popular  as  he  entered  it,  and  having  served 
two  terms  named  his  successor.  Of  no  other  President  is 
this  true.  And  though  Van  Buren's  administration  reaped 
the  whirlwind,  the  mass  of  the  American  people  did  not  for 
a  moment  blame  Andrew  Jackson  as  the  cause  of  panic  and 
disaster.  The  German  historian  of  the  United  States,  Von 
Hoist,  writes  of  '*'  The  Reign  of  Andrew  Jackson,"  and 
later  historians  and  biographers  have  caught  up  the  strain. 
Tyranny  and  despotism  were  easy  words  in  Jackson's  time : 
he  often  uses  them  when  speaking  of  nullification,  and  the 
Whigs  applied  the  terms  to  Jackson's  administration.  It  is 
somewhat  paradoxical  that  the  idol  of  American  Democracy 
should  have  been  an  autocrat.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
Federalist  historians  got  the  initiative  and  told  their  story 
largely  to  the  conversion  of  posterity;  the  Democratic  his- 
torians, until  later  years,  have  been  relegated  to  second 
place.  Doubtless  the  explanation  lies  in  the  course  and  the 
consequences  of  the  long  and  finally  terrible  conflict  between 
Confederacy  and  Nation :  the  supremacy  of  the  Nation  giv- 
ing character  and  standing  to  Federalist  ideas  which  other- 
wise never  had  come  to  them. 

One  result  of  the  predominance  of  the  Hamiltonian 
School,  at  least  in  American  literature,  has  been  the  general 
hostility  of  historians  and  biographers  to  Andrew  Jackson. 
Eulogies  of  Jackson  are  as  plentiful  as  blackberries,  but 
most  of  them  were  written  by  standing  political  candidates 
who  sought  by  praising  Jackson  to  be  suffered  to  gather  up 
some  of  the  crumbs  which  fell  from  the  White  House  table. 


12  Andrew   Jackson 

It  was  the  zeal  of  Jackson's  followers  which  weakened  him 
and  laid  open  his  administration  to  the  contempt  and  the 
attacks  of  his  political  enemies.  But  this  body  of  pamphlet 
flattery  long  since  vanished  into  the  obscurity  of  collections ; 
only  the  resolute  now  glance  at  them;  only  the  intrepidly 
enthusiastic  read  them. 

Over  against  this  murky  sky  of  excessive  praise  rise  the 
yet  murkier  clouds  of  excessive  condemnation  of  Jackson : 
the  Whig  judgment,  the  Abolitionist  judgment,  the  Na- 
tional Republican  judgment,  the  loud,  angry,  insistent 
anti-Jackson  judgment,  whether  Webster's,  or  Clay's,  or  Cal- 
houn's, or  John  Quincy  Adams's,  or  William  Lloyd  Garri- 
son's, or  the  judgment  of  the  most  obscure  private  in  the 
anti-Jackson  ranks.  Perhaps  the  body  of  this  condemnation 
is  greater  than  that  of  indiscriminate  praise :  it  is  a  notable 
collection  in  the  several  Historical  Societies'  libraries.  Cer- 
tain it  is  that  the  line  of  cleavage  in  popular  opinion  as  to 
Andrew  Jackson  ran  deeper,  sharper,  and  clearer  than  any 
like  line  as  to  any  other  American, 

He  must  have  been  a  rare  man  who  provoked  this  agita- 
tion, this  praise,  this  condemnation.  The  times  in  which  he 
lived  must  have  been  unsettled  times ;  a  period  of  transition, 
as  the  historians  are  likely  to  say.  One  desires,  amidst  the 
tumult,  to  see  and  know  Andrew  Jackson :  let  the  flatterers 
and  the  detractors  cease  their  din.  Jackson  is  equal  to  tell- 
ing his  own  story ;  he  is  capable  of  action ;  events  can  speak 
for  themselves.  One  discovers  that  Jackson  was  a  maker  of 
history;  his  acts  are  public;  his  motives  he  discloses  himself 
in  the  intimacy  of  private  correspondence  and  the  respon- 
sible utterances  of  official  life. 

Undoubtedly  nullification  put  Jackson  to  the  supreme 
test  as  a  statesman.  The  refusal  to  recharter  the  United 
States  Bank  was  an  administrative  question ;  nullification 
involved  nationality :  one  was  a  matter  of  policy ;  the  other, 
of  principle.  The  critical  act  of  Jackson's  presidency  was 
his  treatment  of  nullification.  He  clearly  understood  the 
issue :  nullification,  secession,  civil  war.  It  meant  union  or 
disunion. 

The  most  severe  of  Jackson's  critics  pause  to  praise  him 
for  his  conduct  toward  the  nullifiers.  Tradition  assigns  him 
even  more  vigorous  speech  than  was  usual  with  him  in  his 


Introduction  1 3 

comments  on  nullification  and  its  leaders;  his  private  cor- 
respondence at  the  time,  a  part  of  which  is  for  the  first  time 
now  published  in  this  volume,  lays  bare  his  heart's  desire : 
the  salvation  of  his  native  state.  South  Carolina,  from  dis- 
grace; the  preservation  of  the  Union.  This  was  his  atti- 
tude ;  no  man  was  deceived ;  what  he  said  in  private  he  was 
prepared  to  execute.  He  would,  if  necessary,  march  an 
army  of  250,000  men  into  South  Carolina  to  sustain  the 
Constitution  and  the  laws.  There  was  nothing-  of  bluster 
and  rodomontade  in  his  utterances;  in  this  tradition  has 
done  Jackson  some  injustice.  His  decision  was  braver, 
firmer,  and  more  irrevocable  than  even  the  nullifiers  under- 
stood. Jackson  was  fundamentally  a  man  of  action,  but  of 
action  within  the  bounds  of  the  law.  His  aggressiveness 
was  the  aggressiveness  of  the  right :  his  letters  to  Poinsett 
disclose  this.  The  figure  of  an  angry  Andrew  Jackson  itch- 
ing to  hang  the  high-priest  of  nullification,  Calhoun,  is  a 
caricature.  Had  the  nullifiers  in  South  Carolina,  or  in  any 
other  state,  actually  assembled  under  arms  to  obstruct  the 
execution  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  their  as- 
sembling had  been  certified  to  President  Jackson,  by  lawful 
evidence,  he  not  only  would  have  suppressed  the  insurrec- 
tion by  force  of  arms,  but  also  would  have  caused  the  arrest 
of  the  leaders,  whoever  they  might  be,  and  handing  them 
over  to  the  civil  authorities  would  have  brought  them  to 
trial  for  conspiracy  and  treason.  Throughout  the  tense  ex- 
citement of  nullification  Jackson  never  once  hints  at  military 
dictatorship :  he  speaks  ever  of  the  supremacy  of  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  laws.  His  famous  Proclamation  accords 
strictly  with  the  spirit  of  his  private  correspondence  on 
nullification. 

His  vigor  in  combating  nullification  characterized  the 
foreign  and  domestic  policy  of  his  entire  administration. 
Later  historians  justly  recognize  the  great  value  to  the  coun- 
try of  Jackson's  foreign  policy.  It  was  not  a  game  of  bluff, 
or  a  series  of  compromises,  or  a  continuation  of  diplomatic 
delays :  it  was  a  clear  definition,  an  insistent  demand,  an 
effective  recognition  of  the  rights  of  this  country  in  the 
family  of  nations.  Relations  with  France  were  delicate 
and  shifty:  Jackson  made  them  strong  and  clear.  There 
was  the  touch  of  Cromwell  in  his  foreign  policy,  and  the 


14  Andrew  Jackson 

Cromwellian   touch   unfailingly   brings  the   recalcitrant  to 
book. 

Like  Washington,  Jackson,  having  served  eight  years  in 
the  presidency,  issued  a  Farewell  Address  to  his  country- 
men. Though  less  famed  than  Washington's  it  is  no  less 
patriotic,  nor  less  beneficent  in  scope  and  purpose.  Perhaps 
its  chief  value  is  its  long  defence  and  apology  for  his  official 
career :  it  is  the  history  of  "  The  Reign  of  Andrew  Jack- 
son," written  at  least  by  Jackson's  authority.  And  true  to 
his  characteristics  he  most  warmly  defends  those  elements 
of  his  policy  most  bitterly  assailed  by  his  political  enemies. 

Jackson's  place  in  the  order  of  American  statesmen  is 
with  Webster,  Calhoun,  and  Clay,  each  of  whom  he  discom- 
fited in  the  long  struggle  for  place,  power,  and  popularity. 
No  coalition  they  could  form  could  break  him  down :  he 
defied  each  and  all  of  them  and  carried  through  much  of 
his  policy  without  their  aid.  Biographers  and  the  host  of 
monographists  who  love  to  browse  on  pamphlets  and  the 
bibliography  of  public  men  have  not  neglected  to  italicize 
Jackson's  defects  as  writer  or  speaker,  and  only  of  late  have 
discovered  that  his  uniform  practice  was  but  a  premature 
use  of  the  reformed  spelling.  But  of  late  years,  and  since 
the  profound  significance  of  the  Civil  War  is  better  under- 
stood, Jackson's  place  among  American  statesmen  is  by  gen- 
eral accord  side  by  side  with  the  foremost.  He  was  an 
illiterate  man,  and  his  famous  state  papers,  the  "  Anti-Nulli- 
fication Proclamation  "  and  the  "  Paper  on  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,"  were  written,  the  one  by  his  Secretary  of 
State,  the  other,  by  his  Attorney-General;  yet  his  spelling 
was  no  worse  than  Monroe's,  and  like  Monroe's  steadily 
grew  better  as  he  grew  older.  His  essential  political  creed 
— the  preservation  of  the  Union — was  the  essential  creed  of 
Washington  and  Lincoln. 

The  seven  letters  on  nullification  are  printed,  verbatim  et 
literatim  et  pimcttiatim,  from  the  Jackson  letters  in  the 
Poinsett  Collection  in  the  Library  of  the  Pennsylvania  His- 
torical Society,  to  whose  courtesy  and  permission  acknowl- 
edgments are  due.  These  letters,  it  is  believed,  are  now 
printed  for  the  first  time. 

Francis  Newton  Thorpe. 


The  Statesmanship  of 
Andrew  Jackson. 


LETTERS    ON    NULLIFICATION 

1830-1833 

*' Abhorrence  of  debt,  public  and  private,  dislike  of 
banks,  and  love  of  hard  money — love  of  justice  and 
love  of  country,  were  ruling  passions  with  Jackson  ; 
and  of  these  he  gave  constant  evidence  in  all  the 
situations  of  his  life. 

*'The  character  of  his  mind  was  that  of  judgment, 
with  a  rapid  and  almost  intuitive  perception,  followed 
by  an  instant  and  decisive  action.  It  was  that  which 
made  him  a  General,  and  a  President  for  the  time  in 
which  he  served.  He  had  vigorous  thoughts,  but  not 
the  faculty  of  arranging  them  in  a  regular  composi- 
tion, either  written  or  spoken ;  and  in  formal  papers 
he  usually  gave  his  draft  to  an  aid,  a  friend,  or  a  secre- 
tary, to  be  written  over — often  to  the  loss  of  vigor. 
But  the  thoughts  were  his  own  vigorously  expressed ; 
and  without  effort,  writing  with  a  rapid  pen,  and 
never  blotting  or  altering;  but,  as  Carlyle  says  of 
Cromwell,  hitting  the  nail  upon  the  head  as  he  went. 

"  He  had  a  load  to  carry  all  his  life;  resulting  from 
a  temper  which  refused  compromises  and  bargaining, 
and  went  for  a  clean  victory  or  a  clean  defeat,  in 
every  case.  Hence,  every  step  he  took  was  a  contest ; 
and,  it  may  be  added,  every  contest  was  a  victory. 

**  His  election  as  President  was  a  victory  over 
politicians — as  was  every  leading  event  of  his  ad- 
ministration."— Thomas  H.  Benton,  Thirty  Tears' 
View,  Vol.  II,  pp.  737,  738. 


Letters  on   Nullification.* 
1830-1833. 

Washington  Octbr  26th  1830 
Dear  Sir,  I  had  the  honour  this  evening  to  receive  your 
letter  of  the  25th  instant  with  the  enclosure,  and  agreable 
to  your  request  herev^ith  return  it,  with  a  tender  of  my 
thanks  for  this  token  of  your  friendship  &  regard. 

I  had  supposed  that  everyone  acquainted  with  me  knew 
that  I  was  opposed  to  the  nulifying  doctrine,  and  that  my 
toast  at  the  Jefferson  dinner  was  sufficient  evidence  of  the 
fact.  I  am  convinced  there  is  not  one  member  of  Congress 
who  are  not  convinced  of  this  fact,  for  on  all  occasions  I 
have  been  open  &  free  upon  this  subject.  The  South  Car- 
olineans,  as  a  whole,  are  too  patriotic  to  adopt  such  mad 
projects  as  the  nulifyers  of  that  state  propose. 

That  Mr.  Van  Buren  should  be  suspected  of  such  opin- 
ions are  equally  strange. 

I  am  Sir  with  great  respect  &  regard 
your  mo.  obdt-  servt- 

Andrew  Jackson 
Robert  Oliver  Esqr 

*  These  letters  by  Andrew  Jackson,  now  for  the  first  time  printed, 
are  copied,  literatim  et  punctuatim,  from  the  originals  in  the  Poinsett 
Collection  in  the  Library  of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society,  Phila- 
delphia. They  aid  in  understanding  the  circumstances  under  which 
the  famous  Anti-Nullification  Proclamation  was  issued.  They  reveal 
the  man  Jackson.  In  the  more  impassioned  passages  the  Presi- 
dent's emotions  are  plainly  hinted  at,  and  unconsciously,  in  his  hand- 
writing. As  his  feelings  are  the  more  profoundly  stirred  the  script 
under  his  hand  grows  larger,  heavier,  more  broken.  Undoubtedly 
the  supremacy  of  the  Union  has  aligned  Jackson  with  that  great  com- 
pany of  its  defenders  of  whom  Lincoln  is  chief.  Jackson's  "The 
Union:  It  must  and  shall  be  preserved!"  has  passed  into  common 
American  speech  with  Lincoln's  "Government  of  the  people,  by  the 
people  and  for  the  people." 

«7 


1 8  Andrew  Jackson 

December  2d  1832 

My  Dr  Sir,  Your  two  letters  of  No"^  24  &  25th  last  have 
been  received,  and  I  hasten  to  acknowledge  them. 

I  fully  concur  with  you  in  your  views  of  nullification. 
It  leads  directly  to  civil  war  ad  bloodshed  and  deserves  he 
execration  of  every  friend  of  our  country.  Should  the 
civil  power  with  your  aid  as  a  posse  comitatus  prove  not 
strong  enough  to  carry  into  effect  the  laws  of  the  Union 
you  have  a  right  to  call  upn  the  Government  for  aid  and 
the  Executive  will  yield  it  as  far  as  he  has  been  vested 
with  the  power  by  the  constitution  ad  the  law^s,  made  in 
pursuance  thereof. 

The  prevailing  measures  spoken  of  in  your  last  letter 
have  been  in  some  degree  anticipated.  Five  thousand 
stand  of  muskets  with  corresponding  equipments  have  been 
ordered  to  Castle  Pinckney;  and  a  sloop  of  war  w^ith  a 
smaller  armed  vessel  the  experiment  will  reach  Carlston 
harbor  in  due  time.  The  commanding  officer  of  Castle 
Pinckney  will  be  instructed  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  de- 
liver he  arms  and  their  equipment  to  your  order,  taking  a 
receipt  for  them;  and  should  the  emergency  arise  he  will 
furnish  to  your  requisition  such  ordnance  and  ordnance 
stores  as  can  be  spared  from  the  arsenals. 

The  Union  must  be  preserved,  and  its  laws  duly  executed 
by  proper  means.  With  calmness  and  firmness  such  as  be- 
comes those  who  are  conscious  of  being  right  and  are  as- 
sured of  the  support  of  public  opinion,  We  must  perform 
our  duties  without  expecting  that  there  are  those  around  us 
desiring  to  tempt  us  into  the  wrong.  We  must  act  as  the 
instruments  of  the  law  and  if  force  is  opposed  to  us  in  that 
capacity  then  we  shall  repel  it  with  the  certainty,  even 
should  we  fail  as  individuals,  that  the  friends  of  liberty 
and  union  will  still  be  strong  enough  to  prostrate  their 
enemies.* 

*  Compare  this  paragraph  with  the  closing  paragraph  of  Lincoln's 
Second  Inaugural: 

"  With  malice  toward  none;  with  charity  for  all;  with  firmness  in  the 
right  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work 


Letters  on  Nullification  19 

Your  union  men  should  act  in  concert :  their  designation 
as  unionists  should  teach  them  to  be  prepared  for  every 
emergency;  and  inspire  them  with  the  energy  to  over- 
come every  impediment  that  may  be  thrown  in  the  way  of 
the  laws  of  their  constitution  whose  cause  is  now  not  only 
their  cause  but  that  of  free  institutions  throughout  the 
world.  They  should  recollect  that  perpetuity  is  stamped 
upon  the  constitution  by  the  blood  of  our  Fathers, — by 
those  who  achieved  as  well  as  those  who  improved  our 
system  of  free  government.  For  this  purpose  was  the 
principle  of  amendment  inserted  in  the  constitution  which 
all  have  sworn  to  support,  and  in  violation  of  which  no 
state  or  states  have  the  right  to  dissolve  the  Union.  Nul- 
lification therefore  means  insurrection  &  war;  and  you  also 
and  all  other  peaceable  citizens  have  a  right  to  aid  in  the 
same  patriotic  object,  when  summoned  by  the  violated 
laws  of  the  land.  Should  an  emergency  occur  for  the  arms 
before  the  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War  to  the  command- 
ing officer  to  deliver  them  to  your  order,  show  this  to  him 
&  he  will  yield  a  compliance. 

I  am  great  haste 
Yr  mo  obd^  servt 
J.  R.  Poinsett  Esqr  Andrew  Jackson 


Decbr  9th,  1832,  Washington 

My  Dr  Sir.  Your  letters  were  this  moment  reed,  from 
the  hands  of  Col.  Drayton,  read  &  duly  considered,  &  in 
haste  I  reply.  The  true  spirit  of  patriotism  that  they  breath 
fills  me  with  pleasure.  If  the  Union  party  unite  with 
you,  heart  &  hand  in  the  text  you  have  laid  down,  you 
will  not  only  preserve  the  Union,  but  save  our  native  state, 
from  that   ruin   and   disgrace   into  which  her   treasonable 

we  are  in;  to  bind  up  the  nation's  wounds;  to  care  for  him  who  shall 
have  borne  the  battle,  and  for  his  widow,  and  his  orphan — to  do  all 
which  may  achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among  our- 
selves, and  with  all  nations."— March  4,  1865.  Lincoln,  Complete 
Works,  Vol.  XI,  pp.  46,  4J. — New  York,  The  Tandy-Thomas  Company. 


20  Andrew  Jackson 

leaders  have  attempted  to  plunge  her.  All  the  means  in 
my  power,  I  will  employ  to  enable  her  own  citizens, 
those  faithful  patriots,  who  cling  to  the  Union,  to  put  it 
down. 

The  proclamation  I  have  this  day  issued,  &  which  I  in- 
close you,  will  give  you  my  views,  of  the  treasonable  con- 
duct of  the  convention  &  he  Governors  recommendation  to 
the  assembly — it  is  not  merely  rebellion,  but  the  act  of 
raising  troops  positive  treason,  and  I  am  assured  by  all  the 
members  of  Congress  with  whom  I  have  conversed  that  I 
will  be  sanctioned  by  Congress.  If  so,  I  will  meet  it  at  the 
threshold,  and  have  the  leaders  arrested  and  arraigned  for 
treason.  I  am  only  waiting  to  be  furnished  with  the  acts 
of  your  Legislature  to  make  a  communication  to  Congress, 
ask  the  means  necessary  to  carry  my  proclamation  into  com- 
pleat  effect,  and  by  an  exemplary  punishment  of  those 
leaders  for  treason  so  unprovoked,  put  down  the  rebellion, 
&  strengthen  our  happy  Government  both  at  home  and 
abroad. 

My  former  letter  &  communication  from  the  Dept. 
of  War,  will  have  informed  you  of  the  arms  and  equip- 
ments having  been  laid  in  Deposit  subject  to  your  requisi- 
tion of  the  law,  whenever  called  on  as  the  posse  comitatus 
&c  &c 

The  vain  threats  of  resistance  by  those  who  have  raised 
the  standard  of  rebellion  show  their  madness  &  folly.  You 
may  assure  those  patriots,  who  cling  to  their  country,  & 
this  Union,  which  alone  secures  our  liberty  prosperity  and 
happiness,  that  in  forty  days  I  can  have  within  the  limits 
of  So  Carolina  fifty  thousand  men,  and  in  forty  days  more 
another  fifty  thousand.  How  impotent  the  threat  of  resist- 
ance with  only  a  population  of  250,000  whites  &  nearly 
that  double  in  blacks  with  our  ships  in  the  port,  to  aid  in 
the  execution  of  our  laws  ?  The  weakness,  madness  &  folly 
of  the  leaders  &  the  delusion  of  their  followers  in  the  at- 
tempt to  destroy  themselves  &  our  Union  has  not  its  par- 
alel  in  the  history  of  the  world.     The  Union  will  be  pre- 


Letters  on   Nullification  21 

served.    The  safety  of  the  republic,  the  supreme  law,  which 
will  be  promptly  obeyed  by  me. 

I  will  be  happy  to  hear  from  you  often  thro'  Col.  Mason 
or  his  son,  if  you  think  the  postoffice  unsafe. 

I  am  with  sincere  respect 
Yr  mo.  ohdt  sevvt 
Mr.  Poinsett  Andrew  Jackson 

(Private) 

Washington  Jany  i6th  1833 
My  Dr  Sir,  This  day  I  have  communicated  to  both 
houses  of  Congress  the  inclosed  message,  which  has  been 
referred  to  the  committees  on  the  Judiciary,  who  we  have 
a  right  to  believe  will  promptly  report  a  bill  giving  all  the 
powers  asked  for. 

I  have  read  several  letters  from  gentlemen  in  So  Caro- 
lina, requesting  to  be  furnished  with  the  means  of  Defence. 
Mr.  J.  Graham,  an  old  revolutionary  patriot,  a  Mr.  Harri- 
son and  Col  Levy — I  have  requested  Genl  Blair  to  inform 
Col  Levy  to  apply  to  you  &  I  request  that  you  will  make  it 
known  confidentially  that  when  necessary,  you  are  author- 
ized, &  will  furnish  the  necessary  means  of  defence. 

Mr.  Calhoun  let  of  a  little  of  his  ire  against  me  to  day  in 
the  Senate,  but  was  so  agitated  &  confused  that  he  made 
quite  a  failure,  was  replied  to,  with  great  dignity  &  firm- 
ness, by  Major  Forsythe — Calhoun  finds  himself  between 
Scylla  &  Caribdes  &  was  reckless — My  great  desire  is  that 
the  Union  men  may  put  nullification  &  secession  down  in 
So  Carolina,  themselves,  &  save  the  character  of  the  State, 
&  add  thereby  to  the  stability  of  our  Union.  You  can  rely 
on  every  aid  that  I  can  give — only  advise  me  of  the  action 
of  the  nullifyers, — The  moment  they  are  in  hostile  array  in 
opposition  to  the  execution  of  the  laws,  let  it  be  certified  to 
me,  by  the  Atto  for  the  District,  or  the  judge,  and  I  will 
forthwith  order  the  leaders  prosecuted,  &  arrested,  if  the 
marshall  is  resisted  by  12,000  bayonets,  I  will  have  his 
posse  24,000 — but  the  moment  there  rebellious  faction  find 


22  Andrew  Jackson 

they  are  opposed  by  the  good  people  of  that  state,  with  a 
resolution  becoming  free  men  and  worthy  the  name  of 
Americans  and  under  the  protection  of  the  Union,  they  will 
yield  to  the  power  of  the  law,  and  return  to  their  obedience. 
I  write  in  great  haste,  late  at  night,  and  much  fatigued,  & 
indisposed  by  a  bad  cold,  you  will  excuse  this  scratch,  it  is 
for  your  own  eye — Write  me  often  &  give  me  the  earliest 
intelligence  of  the  first  armed  force  that  appears  in  the  field 
to  sustain  the  ordenance.  The  first  act  of  treason  commit- 
ted, unites  to  it,  all  those  who  have  aided  or  abetted  in  the 
excitement  to  the  act — we  will  strike  at  the  head  and  demol- 
ish the  monster  nullification  &  secession,  at  the  threshold  by 
the  power  of  the  law 

I  am  very  respectfully 
Joel  R.  Poinsett  Esqr  Yr  mo.  obdt.  strvt. 

Andrew  Jackson 

Washington  January  24th-  1833 
My  dear  Sir.    I  have  reed  yours  of  the  i6th-  19th  &  20th 
instant,  that  of  the  i6th  late  last  night  &  hasten  to  reply  by 
the  return  express  which  will  leave  here  early  tomorrow. 

My  message  to  Congress,  forwarded  to  you  by  the  last 
express  was  referred  to  the  committee  in  each  house,  on  the 
judiciary — that  of  the  Senate  has  reported  a  bill  which  you 
will  receive  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  by  the  con- 
veyance that  will  hand  you  this.  You  will  see  from  a  pe- 
rusal, that  it  contains,  with  the  powers  now  possessed,  every 
authority  necessary  to  enable  the  executive  to  execute  the 
revenue  laws,  and  protect  our  citizens  engaged  in  their  sup- 
port, &  to  punish  all  who  may  attempt  to  resist  their  execu- 
tion by  force.  This  bill  has  been  made  the  order  of  the  day 
for  Monday  next,  and  altho  this  delay  has  been  submited 
to  by  the  Senate,  still  I  have  no  doubt  but  it  will  pass  by  a 
very  large  majority  in  both  Houses.  There  will  be  some 
intemperate  discussion  on  the  bill  &  on  Calhouns  and 
Grundys  resolutions. 

It  was  my  duty  to  make  known  to  Congress,  being  in 


Letters  on  Nullification  23 

session,  the  state  of  the  Union,  I  witheld  to  the  last  moment 
to  give  Congress  time  to  act  before  the  first  of  February — 
having  done  my  duty  in  in  this  respect,  should  Congress  fail 
to  act  on  the  bill,  and  I  shall  be  informed  of  the  illegal  as- 
semblage of  an  armed  force  with  intention  to  oppose  the 
execution  of  the  revenue  laws,  under  the  late  ordinance  of 
So  Carolina,  I  stand  prepared  forthwith  to  issue  my  procla- 
mation warning  them  to  disperse — should  they  fail  to  com- 
ply with  the  proclamation,  I  will  forthwith  call  into  the  field 
such  a  force  as  will  overaw  resistance,  put  treason  &  rebel- 
lion down  without  blood,  and  arrest  and  hand  over  to  the 
judiciary  for  trial  and  punishment,  the  leaders,  exciters  and 
promoters  of  this  rebellion  &  treason. 

You  need  not  fear  the  assemblage  of  a  large  force  (at 
Charleston) — give  me  early  information  officially,  of  the 
assemblage  of  a  force  armed,  to  carry  into  effect  the  ordi- 
nance &  laws,  nullifying  our  revenue  laws,  and  to  prevent 
their  execution,  and  in  ten  or  fifteen  days  at  farthest,  I  will 
have  in  Charleston  from  ten  to  fifteen  thousand  well  organ- 
ized troops,  well  equiped  for  the  field — and  twenty  thou- 
sand or  thirty,  more,  in  their  interest,  I  have  a  tender  of 
volunteers  from  every  state  in  the  Union — I  can,  if  need  be 
— which  God  forbear,  march  two  hundred  thousand  men  in 
forty  days  to  quell  any  &  every  insurrection  or  rebellion 
that  might  arise  to  threaten  our  glorious  confederacy  & 
Union,  upon  which  our  liberty  prosperity  &  happiness  rests. 

I  repeat  to  the  union  men  again,  fear  not  the  Union  ivill 
be  preserved  &  treason  &  rebellion  promptly  put  down, 
when  &  where  it  may  shew  its  monster  head.  You  may  rest 
assured  that  the  nullies  of  Carolina  will  receive  no  aid  from 
any  quarter.  They  have  been  encouraged  by  a  few  from 
Georgia  and  Virginia,  but  the  united  force  of  the  yeomanry 
of  the  country  and  the  tender  of  volunteers  from  every 
state  has  put  this  down.  They  will  know  I  will  execute 
the  laws,  and  that  the  whole  people  will  support  me  in  it, 
and  preserve  the  Union — even  if  the  povernor  of  Virginia 
should  have  the  folly  to  attempt  to  prevent  the  militia  from 


24  Andrew  Jackson 

marching  thro  this  state  to  put  the  faction  in  So  Carolina 
down  &  place  himself  at  the  head  of  an  armed  force  for 
such  a  wicked  purpose.  I  would  arrest  him  at  the  head  of 
his  troops,  &  hand  him  over  to  the  civil  authority  for  trial — 
The  volunteers  of  his  own  state  would  enable  me  to  do  this. 
I  repeat  again,  my  pride  and  desire  is,  that  the  Union  ever 
may  arouse  &  sustain  the  majority  of  the  constitution  &  the 
laws,  and  save  my  native  state  from  that  disgrace  that  the 
nullifyers  have  brought  upon  her — give  me  only  intelli- 
gence of  the  open  assemblage  of  an  armed  force  any  where 
in  the  state,  under  the  ordinance  &  the  laws  to  nullify  &  re- 
sist the  revenue  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  you  may 
rest  assured  I  wall  act  promptly  and  do  my  duty  to  God  and 
my  country,  &  relieve  the  good  citizens  of  that  despotism 
&  tyranny  under  which  the  supporters  of  the  Union  now 
labour. 

On  yesterday  the  tarifif  bill  would  have  passed  house  of 
representatives  had  it  not  been  for  a  very  insulting  &  irri- 
tating speech  by  Wilde  of  Georgia  which  has  thrown  the 
whole  of  Pennsylvania,  New  York  &  Ohio  into  a  flame,  I 
am  told  there  is  great  excitement,  no  hopes  now  of  its  pass- 
ing this  session — it  is  further  believed  that  the  speech  was 
made  for  this  purpose,  at  the  instigation  of  the  nullies,  who 
wish  no  accommodation  of  the  tariff.  This  w^ill  unite  the 
whole  people  against  the  nullifiers  &  instead  of  carrying  the 
South  with  the  nullies,  will  have  the  effect  to  arouse  them 
against  them  when  it  it  discovered  their  object  is  nothing 
but  disunion.  The  House  sat  late  &  I  have  not  heard  from 
it  since  7  o'clock — I  must  refer  you  to  Mr.  McLane  for 
further  information,  as  it  is  very  late  &  my  eyes  grow  dim 
— Keep  me  well  advised,  &  constantly — The  arms  are 
placed  subject  to  your  requisition,  and  under  your  discre- 
tion. 

I  keep  no  copy,  nor  have  I  time  to  correct  this  letter 
In  haste  very  respectfully 
Your  friend 
J.  R.  Poinsett  Esqr  Andrew  Jackson 


Letters  on   Nullification  25 

Washington  City  February  7th  1833 

Dr  Sir.  Yours  of  the  27th  and  28th  ultimo,  have  been 
handed  me  by  Mr.  Smith,  that  of  the  30th  through  Col 
Drayton  has  also  been  re'^d.  Their  contents  being  con- 
sidered I  hasten  to  reply. 

The  nullifiers  in  your  State  have  placed  themselves  thus 
far  in  the  wrong.  They  must  be  kept  there,  notwithstand- 
ing all  their  tyranny  and  blustering  conduct,  until  some  act 
of  force  is  committed  or  there  is  an  open  assemblage  of  an 
armed  force  by  orders  of  your  Governor  under  the  ordi- 
nance and  Replevin  laws  to  resist  the  execution  of  the  laws 
of  the  United  States,  the  Executive  of  the  United  States 
has  no  legal  ad  constitutional  power  to  order  the  militia 
into  the  field  to  suppress  it,  and  not  then,  until  his  procla- 
mation commanding  he  insurgents  to  disperse  has  been 
issued,  But  this  you  may  rely  on,  will  be  promptly  done  by 
the  president  the  moment  he  is  advised  by  proper  affidavits 
that  such  is  the  condition  of  your  State.  You  should  not 
therefore  fear  the  result,  if  the  movement  anticipated  from 
the  upper  country  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  the  odious 
and  despotic  zvrit  in  withernam  should  really  be  made. 

Keep  me  advised  of  the  first  actual  assemblage  of  an 
armed  force  in  the  upper  part  of  your  State,  or  in  any 
other  part  of  it,  or  in  any  part  of  the  adjoining  states,  and 
before  it  reaches  you  I  shall  interpose  a  force  for  your  pro- 
tection and  that  of  the  city  strong  enough  to  overwhelm  any 
effort  to  obstruct  the  execution  of  the  laws.  But  bear  in 
mind  the  fact  that  this  step  must  be  consequent  upn  the 
actual  open  assemblage  of  such  a  force  or  upon  some  overt 
act  of  its  commission.  In  this  case  which  I  trust  in  God 
will  not  happen,  I  will  act  and  with  firmness,  promptness 
and  efficiency. 

I  sincerely  lament  that  there  is  a  contingency  so  probable 
which  menaces  the  safety  of  those  who  are  acting  with  you 
to  sustain  the  Union  and  laws  of  our  happy  country.  But 
let  what  will  happen  remain  at  your  post  in  the  perform- 
ance of  this  the  highest  of  all  duties.    Be  firm  in  the  support 


26  Andrew  Jackson 

of  the  Union ;  it  is  the  sheet  anchor  of  our  Hberty  and 
prosperity,  dissolve  it  and  our  fate  will  be  that  of  unhappy 
Mexico.  But  it  cannot  be  dissolved;  the  national  voice 
from  Maim  to  Loueseana  with  a  unanimity  and  resolution 
never  before  exceeded  declares  that  it  shall  be  preserved 
and  those  who  are  assailing  it  under  the  guise  of  nullifica- 
tion and  secession  shall  be  consigned  to  contempt  and  in- 
famy. 

In  resisting  the  tyrannic  measures  by  which  the  ruling 
party  in  So  Carolina  have  prepared  to  obstruct  the  laws  of 
the  Union  you  are  thrown  back  upon  the  right  of  self- 
defence.  Deprived  of  the  protection  guaranteed  to  you  by 
your  own  constitution,  violent  resistance  to  the  tyranny 
which  thus  oppresses  you  becomes  a  duty,  and  in  the  per- 
formance of  it  the  constitution  and  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  will  be  your  shield.  Do  not  doubt  that  the  shield 
will  be  upheld  with  all  the  power  which  I  am  or  may  be 
authorized  to  use. 

As  soon  as  I  am  notified  that  the  hostile  array  which  you 
anticipate  has  been  made  the  positions  recommended  as 
proper  to  be  occupied  for  defence  will  be  taken.  Of  this 
fact  let  me  be  notified  by  an  express  who  will  bring  the 
proper  evidences  of  it. 

I  have  regretted  that  your  convention  did  not,  as  such, 
memorealise  Congress  to  extend  to  you  the  guarantee  of 
the  constitution,  of  a  republican  form  of  government,  stat- 
ing the  actual  despotism  which  now  controls  the  state.  The 
action  of  Congress  on  the  subject  would  have  placed  your 
situation  before  the  whole  Union  and  filled  the  heart  of 
every  true  lover  of  his  country  and  its  liberties  with  indig- 
nation. 

I  can  order  the  regular  troops  to  take  any  position  which 
may  be  found  necessary;  but  your  own  advice  has  been  to 
"  do  nothing  to  irritate."  When  the  crisis  comes  and  I  is- 
sue my  proclamation,  authority  will  be  given  to  embody  all 
volunteers  enrolled  for  the  support  and  execution  of  the 
laws,  and  the  officers  of  the  same  of  their  own  selection 


Letters  on   Nullification  27 

will  be  sanctioned  by  the  President,  as  has  been  usual  upon 
the  receipt  of  the  muster  rolls. 

It  has  just  been  mentioned  to  me  that  a  bet  has  been 
taken  by  a  man  supposed  to  be  in  the  secrets  of  the  nulli- 
fiers  that  the  convention  will  be  called  and  the  odious  ordi- 
nance repealed.  God  grant  that  this  may  be  true.  Let  not 
this  hope,  however,  lessen  your  watchfulness  or  your  exer- 
tions. My  pride  is  to  save  the  character  of  my  native  state 
by  the  patriotism  of  its  own  citizens.  Firmness  on  your 
part  will  do  this. 

The  tariff  will  be  reduced  to  the  wants  of  the  Govern- 
ment if  not  at  this  session  of  Congress  certainly  at  the  next. 

Referring  you  to  Mr.   Smith  I  close  this  hasty  scrawl 
with  my  prayers  for  your  happiness. 
J.  R.  Poinsett  Esqr  Andrew  Jackson 

(Private) 

Washington  February  17th,  1833. 

My  dear  Sir,  I  have  just  received  your  letter  of  the  9th 
instant.  I  never  once  thought,  that  the  mission  of  Mr. 
Leigh,  with  his  powers,  would  be  attended  with  any  bene- 
ficial result  whatever.  It  has  only  served  to  place  the  leg- 
islature of  Virginia  in  a  disagreeable  attitude,  and  has  done 
more  harm  than  it  can  good.  Had  Virginia  passed  resolu- 
tions disapproving  as  she  has  done,  nullification,  and  ad- 
monishing the  nullifiers  to  retrace  their  steps,  this  would 
have  done  much  good,  and  instead  of  encouraging  them  in 
expecting  her  aid,  would  have  caused  them  to  have  re- 
pealed their  ordinance.  The  great  body  of  the  people  of 
Virginia  are  firmly  opposed  to  the  course  of  the  Legisla- 
ture in  this  respect,  and  will  support  the  United  States 
nobly,  should  the  crisis  come,  which  I  trust  the  firmness  of 
the  Union  men  may  yet  prevent. 

The  bill  granting  the  powers  asked  will  pass  into  a  law. 
Mr.  Webster  replied  to  Mr.  Calhoun  yesterday,  and,  it  is 
said,  demolished  him.    It  is  believed  by  more  than  one,  that 


28  Andrew  Jackson 

Mr.  C.  is  in  a  state  of  dementation. — his  speech  was  a  per- 
fect faihire ;  and  I\Ir.  Webster  handled  him  as  a  child.  I  fear 
we  have  many  nullifiers  in  Congress  who  dare  not  openly 
appear.     The  vote  on  the  pending  bill  will  unrobe  them. 

I  am  delighted  to  learn  that  you  will  convene  the  union 
convention  simultaneously  with  that  of  the  nullifiers,  or 
soon  after.  A  bold  and  resolute  stand  will  put  them  down, 
and  you  will  thereby  save  the  character  of  your  state. 
When  you  recollect  the  noble  cause  you  are  defending, — 
that  our  previous  Union  is  the  stake,  that  the  arm  of  the 
United  States  sustained  by  nineteen  twentieth  of  the  whole 
people  is  extended  over  you, — you  cannot  be  otherwise  than 
firm,  resolute  and  inflexible.  One  resolution, — that  you 
nail  the  United  States  colours  to  the  mast,  and  will  go  down 
with  the  Union  or  live  free,  that  you  will  to  your  last 
breath,  resist  the  tyranny  and  oppression  of  their  ordinance, 
test  oath  and  unconstitutional  proceedings,  will  restore  to 
you  peace  and  tranquillity,  which  a  well  adjusted  tariff 
will  confirm. 

Before  the  receipt  of  your  letter  Mr.  Livingston  had  an 
interview  with  Mr.  Bankhead  on  the  subject  of  the  conduct 
of  the  British  Consul  at  Charleston.  Mr.  Blankhead  has 
written  &  admonished  him  that  his  exequater  will  be  re- 
voked on  his  first  act  of  interference.  This  I  assure  you, 
will  be  done.  I  have  only  to  request  that  you  will  give  me 
the  earliest  intelligence  that  you  can  obtain  of  his  having 
ordered  a  British  squadron  to  the  port  of  Charleston;  and 
on  an  affidavit  of  the  fact  of  one  arriving  there,  his  exe- 
quater will  be  revoked. 

Keep  me  constantly  advised  of  all  movements  in  South 
Carolina, — the  marshalling  troops  to  oppose  the  execution 
of  the  laws  of  the  U.  States,  affirmed  on  affidavit,  and  I 
will  forthwith  use  all  my  powers  under  the  constitution  and 
the  laws  to  put  them  down. 

With  great  respect, 

Yr  friend 
J.  R.  Poinsett  Esqr  Andrew  Jackson 


Letters  on   Nullification  29 

President  Jackson  was  kept  informed  of  the  course  of  affairs  in 
South  Carolina  by  his  correspondents,  among  whom  was  Augustus 
Fitch,  who,  in  a  letter  written  from  Columbia,  S.  C,  March  i6,  1833, 
the  day  after  the  repeal  of  the  Ordinance  of  Nullification,  describes 
the  conclusion  of  the  matter.  Many  nullifiers  had  been  brought  to 
their  senses  by  the  President's  stern  purpose  to  enforce  the  revenue 
laws  and  Clay's  compromise  tariff  bill.  When  the  convention  re- 
assembled, on  the  fifteenth  of  March,  only  four  delegates  voted  against 
repeal  because  they  thought  that  Clay's  bill  "did  not  fully  abandon 
the  principle  of  protection."  Clay's  attitude  seems  to  have  puzzled 
some  of  his  followers  at  the  South.  McDufifie,  who  divided  with  Cal- 
houn the  leadership  of  the  nullification  movement,  spoke  in  the  con- 
vention (so  writes  Fitch)  "lovingly"  of  Clay  as  "our  ally  in  the  West 
whom  we  have  recently  gained,"  and  thereupon  congratulated  the 
convention  on  the  triumph  of  nullification  through  Clay's  compromise 
bill.  Governor  Hamilton  made  a  conciliatory  speech,  as  did  others, 
and  the  repeal  of  the  ordinance  was  carried. 

On  the  back  of  Fitch's  letter  Jackson  made  this  endorsement; 

"The  Ordinance  &  all  law  under  it  repealed — so  ends  the  wicked  & 
disgraceful  conduct  of  Calhoun  McDufiie  &  their  co  nuUies.  They  will 
only  be  remembered,  to  be  held  up  to  scorn,  by  every  one  who  loves 
freedom,  our  glorious  constitution  &  government  of  laws.     A  J." 

(From  the  MS.  Fitch  letter,  sometime  in  possession  of  the  Editor.) 


II 

STATE   PAPERS 

1829— 1837 

"  Yes,  autocrat  as  he  was,  Andrew  Jackson  loved 
the  people,  the  common  people,  the  sons  and  daugh- 
ters of  toil,  as  truly  as  they  loved  him,  and  believed  in 
them  as  they  believed  in  him.  He  was  in  accord  with 
his  generation.  He  had  a  clear  perception  that  the 
toiling  millions  are  not  a  class  in  the  community,  but 
are  the  community.  He  knew  and  felt  that  govern- 
ment should  exist  only  for  the  benefit  of  the  gov- 
erned; that  the  strong  are  strong  only  as  they  may 
aid  the  weak  ;  that  the  rich  are  rightfully  rich  only 
that  they  may  so  combine  and  direct  the  labor  of  the 
poor  as  to  make  labor  more  profitable  to  the  laborer. 
He  did  not  comprehend  these  truths  as  they  are  dem- 
onstrated by  Jefferson  and  Spencer,  but  he  had  an  in- 
tuitive and  instinctive  perception  of  them.  And  in 
his  most  autocratic  moments,  he  really  thought  that  he 
was  fighting  the  battle  of  the  people  and  doing  their 
will  while  baffling  the  purposes  of  their  representa- 
tives. If  he  had  been  a  man  of  knowledge  as  well  as 
force,  he  would  have  taken  the  part  of  the  people 
more  effectually,  and  left  to  his  successors  an  in- 
creased power  of  doing  good,  instead  of  better  facili- 
ties for  doing  harm.  He  appears  always  to  have 
meant  well.  But  his  ignorance  of  law,  history,  poli- 
tics, science,  of  every  thing  which  he  who  governs  a 
country  ought  to  know  was  extreme.  Mr.  Trist  re- 
members hearing  a  member  of  the  General's  family 
say,  that  General  Jackson  did  not  believe  the  world 
was  round.  His  ignorance  was  as  a  wall  round  about 
him — high,  impenetrable.  He  was  imprisoned  in  his 
ignorance,  and  sometimes  raged  round  his  little,  dim 
inclosure  like  a  tiger  in  his  den." — James  Parton, 
Life  of  Andrew  Jackson^  Vol.  HI,  pp.  698,  699. 


First  Inaugural  Address.* 

(March  4,  1829.) 

FcIIozi'-Cithcns:  About  to  undertake  the  arduous  duties 
that  I  have  been  appointed  to  perform  by  the  choice  of  a 
free  people,  I  avail  myself  of  this  customary  and  solemn 
occasion  to  express  the  gratitude  which  their  confidence 
inspires  and  to  acknowledge  the  accountability  which  my 
situation  enjoins.  While  the  magnitude  of  their  interests 
convinces  me  that  no  thanks  can  be  adequate  to  the  honor 
they  have  conferred,  it  admonishes  me  that  the  best  return 
I  can  make  is  the  zealous  dedication  of  my  humble  abilities 
to  their  service  and  their  good. 

As  the  instrument  of  the  Federal  Constitution  it  will 
devolve  on  me  for  a  stated  period  to  execute  the  laws  of  the 
United  States,  to  superintend  their  foreign  and  their  con- 
federate relations,  to  manage  their  revenue,  to  command 
their  forces,  and,  by  communication  to  the  Legislature,  to 
watch  over  and  promote  their  interests  generally.  And 
the  principles  of  action  by  which  I  shall  endeavor  to  accom- 
plish this  circle  of  duties  it  is  now  proper  for  me  briefly  to 
explain. 

In  administering  the  laws  of  Congress  I  shall  keep  stead- 
ily in  view  the  limitations  as  well  as  the  extent  of  the 
Executive  power,  trusting  thereby  to  discharge  the  func- 
tions of  my  office  without  transcending  its  authority. 
With  foreign  nations  it  will  be  my  study  to  preserve  peace 
and  to  cultivate  friendship  on  fair  and  honorable  terms,  and 

*  This  address  is  general,  vague  and  non-committal,  and  contains 
nothing  of  importance  definitive  of  Jacksonian  policy.  The  refer- 
ences to  "reform"  somewhat  alarmed  office-holders,  but  were  not 
interpreted  even  by  the  Federalists  as  notice  of  the  coming  proscrip- 
tioa      [Ed.] 

31 


32  Andrew  Jackson 

in  the  adjustment  of  any  differences  that  may  exist  or  arise 
to  exhibit  the  forbearance  becoming  a  powerful  nation 
rather  than  the  sensibiHty  belonging  to  a  gallant  people. 

In  such  measures  as  I  may  be  called  on  to  pursue  in 
regard  to  the  rights  of  the  separate  States  I  hope  to  be 
animated  by  a  proper  respect  for  those  sovereign  members 
of  our  Union,  taking  care  not  to  confound  the  powers  they 
have  reserved  to  themselves  with  those  they  have  granted 
to  the  Confederacy. 

The  management  of  the  public  revenue — that  searching 
operation  in  all  governments — is  among  the  most  delicate 
and  important  trusts  in  ours,  and  it  will,  of  course,  demand 
no  inconsiderable  share  of  my  official  solicitude.  Under 
every  aspect  in  which  it  can  be  considered  it  would  appear 
that  advantage  must  result  from  the  observance  of  a  strict 
and  faithful  economy.  This  I  shall  aim  at  the  more 
anxiously  both  because  it  will  facilitate  the  extinguishment 
of  the  national  debt,  the  unnecessary  duration  of  which  is 
incompatible  with  real  independence,  and  because  it  will 
counteract  that  tendency  to  public  and  private  profligacy 
which  a  profuse  expenditure  of  money  by  the  Government 
is  but  too  apt  to  engender.  Powerful  auxiliaries  to  the 
attainment  of  this  desirable  end  are  to  be  found  in  the 
regulations  provided  by  the  wisdom  of  Congress  for  the 
specific  appropriation  of  public  money  and  the  prompt 
accountability  of  public  officers. 

With  regard  to  a  proper  selection  of  the  subjects  of 
impost  with  a  view  to  revenue,  it  would  seem  to  me  that  the 
spirit  of  equity,  caution,  and  compromise  in  which  the  Con- 
stitution was  formed  requires  that  the  great  interests  of 
agriculture,  commerce,  and  manufactures  should  be  equally 
favored,  and  that  perhaps  the  only  exception  to  this  rule 
should  consist  in  the  peculiar  encouragement  of  any  prod- 
ucts of  either  of  them  that  may  be  found  essential  to  our 
national  independence. 

Internal  improvement  and  the  diffusion  of  knowledge,  so 
far  as  they  can  be  promoted  by  the  constitutional  acts  of  the 
Federal  Government,  are  of  high  importance. 


First  Inaugural   Address  33 

Considering  standing  armies  as  dangerous  to  free  gov- 
ernments in  time  of  peace,  I  shall  not  seek  to  enlarge  our 
present  establishment,  nor  disregard  that  salutary  lesson  of 
political  experience  which  teaches  that  the  military  should 
be  held  subordinate  to  the  civil  power.  The  gradual 
increase  of  our  Navy,  whose  flag  has  displayed  in  distant 
climes  our  skill  in  navigation  and  our  fame  in  arms;  the 
preservation  of  our  forts,  arsenals,  and  dockyards,  and  the 
introduction  of  progressive  improvements  in  the  discipline 
and  science  of  both  branches  of  our  military  service  are  so 
plainly  prescribed  by  prudence  that  I  should  be  excused  for 
omitting  their  mention  sooner  than  for  enlarging  on  their 
importance.  But  the  bulwark  of  our  defense  is  the  national 
militia,  which  in  the  present  state  of  our  intelligence  and 
population  must  render  us  invincible.  As  long  as  our  Gov- 
ernment is  administered  for  the  good  of  the  people,  and  is 
regulated  by  their  will ;  as  long  as  it  secures  to  us  the  rights 
of  person  and  of  property,  liberty  of  conscience  and  of  the 
press,  it  will  be  worth  defending ;  and  so  long  as  it  is  worth 
defending  a  patriotic  militia  will  cover  it  with  an  impen- 
etrable aegis.  Partial  injuries  and  occasional  mortifications 
we  may  be  subjected  to,  but  a  million  of  armed  freemen, 
possessed  of  the  means  of  war,  can  never  be  conquered  by  a 
foreign  foe.  To  any  just  system,  therefore,  calculated  to 
strengthen  this  natural  safeguard  of  the  country  I  shall 
cheerfully  lend  all  the  aid  in  my  power. 

It  will  be  my  sincere  and  constant  desire  to  observe 
toward  the  Indian  tribes  within  our  limits  a  just  and  lib- 
eral policy,  and  to  give  that  humane  and  considerate  atten- 
tion to  their  rights  and  their  wants  which  is  consistent  with 
the  habits  of  our  Government  and  the  feelings  of  our  people. 

The  recent  demonstration  of  public  sentiment  inscribes 
on  the  list  of  Executive  duties,  in  characters  too  legible  to 
be  overlooked,  the  task  of  reform,  which  will  require  par- 
ticularly the  correction  of  those  abuses  that  have  brought 
the  patronage  of  the  Federal  Government  into  conflict  with 
the  freedom  of  elections,  and  the  counteraction  of  those 
causes  which  have  disturbed  the  rightful  course  of  appoint- 


34  Andrew  Jackson 

ment  and  have  placed  or  continued  power  in  unfaithful  or 
incompetent  hands. 

In  the  performance  of  a  task  thus  generally  delineated  I 
shall  endeavor  to  select  men  whose  diligence  and  talents 
will  insure  in  their  respective  stations  able  and  faithful 
cooperation,  depending  for  the  advancement  of  the  public 
service  more  on  the  integrity  and  zeal  of  the  public  officers 
than  on  their  numbers. 

A  diffidence,  perhaps  too  just,  in  my  own  qualifications 
will  teach  me  to  look  with  reverence  to  the  examples  of 
public  virtue  left  by  my  illustrious  predecessors,  and  with 
veneration  to  the  lights  that  flow  from  the  mind  that 
founded  and  the  mind  that  reformed  our  system.  The 
same  diffidence  induces  me  to  hope  for  instruction  and  aid 
from  the  coordinate  branches  of  the  Government,  and  for 
the  indulgence  and  support  of  my  fellow-citizens  generally. 
And  a  firm  reliance  on  the  goodness  of  that  Power  whose 
providence  mercifully  protected  our  national  infancy,  and 
has  since  upheld  our  liberties  in  various  vicissitudes,  en- 
courages me  to  offer  up  my  ardent  supplications  that  He 
will  continue  to  make  our  beloved  country  the  object  of 
His  divine  care  and  gracious  benediction. 


First  Annual  Message.* 


(December  8,  1829.) 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives: It  affords  me  pleasure  to  tender  my  friendly  greetings 
to  you  on  the  occasion  of  your  assembling  at  the  seat  of 
Government  to  enter  upon  the  important  duties  to  which 
you  have  been  called  by  the  voice  of  our  countrymen.  The 
task  devolves  on  me^  under  a  provision  of  the  Constitution, 
to  present  to  you,  as  the  Federal  Legislature  of  twenty-four 
sovereign  States  and  12,000,000  happy  people,  a  view  of 
our  affairs,  and  to  propose  such  measures  as  in  the  dis- 
charge of  my  official  functions  have  suggested  themselves 
as  necessary  to  promote  the  objects  of  our  Union. 

In  communicating  with  you  for  the  first  time  it  is  to  me 
a  source  of  unfeigned  satisfaction,  calling  for  mutual  grat- 
ulation  and  devout  thanks  to  a  benign  Providence,  that  we 
are  at  peace  with  all  mankind,  and  that  our  country  exhib- 

*  Benton,  Jackson's  most  able  and  ardent  defender,  remarks  on 
this  message:  "That  it  was  anxiously  looked  for,  and  did  not  disap- 
point the  public  expectation.  It  was  strongly  democratic,  and  con- 
tained many  recommendations  of  a  nature  to  simplify  and  purify  the 
working  of  the  Government,  and  to  carry  it  back  to  the  times  of  Mr. 
Jefferson — to  promote  its  economy  and  efficiency,  and  to  maintain  the 
rights  of  the  people,  and  of  the  States  in  its  administration."  Thirty 
Years'  View,  I.,  p.  121. 

"In  a  word,  it  was  a  message  of  the  old  republican  school,  in  which 
President  Jackson  had  been  bred,  and  from  which  he  never  departed." 
Id.,  p.  124. 

Jackson's  attack  on  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  in  this  message, 
some  seven  years  before  the  expiration  of  its  charter,  may  be  said  to 
have  astonished  the  country.  Times  were  good,  the  people  prospering, 
the  currency  sounder  than  ever  before.  The  President  here  gave  warn- 
ing of  relentless  war  against  the  Bank ;  his  attitude  was  partisan  or  patri- 
otic as  one  interprets  his  policy  and  its  effects  on  the  country.     [Ed.] 

35 


36  Andrew  Jackson 

its  the  most  cheering  evidence  of  general  welfare  and  pro- 
gressive improvement.  Turning  our  eyes  to  other  nations, 
our  great  desire  is  to  see  our  brethren  of  the  human  race 
secured  in  the  blessings  enjoyed  by  ourselves,  and  advanc- 
ing in  knowledge,  in  freedom,  and  in  social  happiness. 

Our  foreign  relations,  although  in  their  general  char- 
acter pacific  and  friendly,  present  subjects  of  difference 
between  us  and  other  powers  of  deep  interest  as  well  to  the 
country  at  large  as  to  many  of  our  citizens.  To  effect  an 
adjustment  of  these  shall  continue  to  be  the  object  of  my 
earnest  endeavors,  and  notwithstanding  the  difficulties  of 
the  task,  I  do  not  allow  myself  to  apprehend  unfavorable 
results.  Blessed  as  our  country  is  with  everything  which 
constitutes  national  strength,  she  is  fully  adequate  to  the 
maintenance  of  all  her  interests.  In  discharging  the 
responsible  trust  confided  to  the  Executive  in  this  respect 
it  is  my  settled  purpose  to  ask  nothing  that  is  not  clearly 
right  and  to  submit  to  nothing  that  is  wrong;  and  I  flatter 
myself  that,  supported  by  the  other  branches  of  the  Gov- 
ernment and  by  the  intelligence  and  patriotism  of  the 
people,  we  shall  be  able,  under  the  protection  of  Providence, 
to  cause  all  our  just  rights  to  be  respected. 

Of  the  unsettled  matters  between  the  United  States  and 
other  powers,  the  most  prominent  are  those  which  have  for 
years  been  the  subject  of  negotiation  with  England,  France, 
and  Spain.  The  late  periods  at  which  our  ministers  to 
those  Governments  left  the  United  States  render  it  impos- 
sible at  this  early  day  to  inform  you  of  what  has  been  done 
on  the  subjects  with  which  they  have  been  respectively 
charged.  Relying  upon  the  justice  of  our  views  in  relation 
to  the  points  committed  to  negotiation  and  the  reciprocal 
good  feeling  which  characterizes  our  intercourse  with  those 
nations,  we  have  the  best  reason  to  hope  for  a  satisfactory 
adjustment  of  existing  differences. 

With  Great  Britain,  alike  distinguished  in  peace  and  war, 
we  may  look  forward  to  years  of  peaceful,  honorable,  and 
elevated  competition.  Everything  in  the  condition  and  his- 
tory of  the  two  nations  is  calculated  to  inspire  sentiments  of 


First  Annual  Message  37 

mutual  respect  and  to  carry  conviction  to  the  minds  of  both 
that  it  is  their  poHcy  to  preserve  the  most  cordial  relations. 
Such  are  my  own  views,  and  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that 
such  are  also  the  prevailing  sentiments  of  our  constituents. 
Although  neither  time  nor  opportunity  has  been  afforded 
for  a  full  development  of  the  policy  which  the  present  cab- 
inet of  Great  Britain  designs  to  pursue  toward  this  country, 
I  indulge  the  hope  that  it  will  be  of  a  just  and  pacific  char- 
acter ;  and  if  this  anticipation  be  realized  we  may  look  with 
confidence  to  a  speedy  and  acceptable  adjustment  of  our 
affairs. 

,  Under  the  convention  for  regulating  the  reference  to 
arbitration  of  the  disputed  points  of  boundary  under  the 
fifth  article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  the  proceedings  have 
hitherto  been  conducted  in  that  spirit  of  candor  and  lib- 
erality which  ought  ever  to  characterize  the  acts  of  sov- 
ereign States  seeking  to  adjust  by  the  most  unexceptionable 
means  important  and  delicate  subjects  of  contention.  The 
first  statements  of  the  parties  have  been  exchanged,  and 
the  final  replication  on  our  parts  is  in  a  course  of  prepara- 
tion. This  subject  has  received  the  attention  demanded  by 
its  great  and  peculiar  importance  to  a  patriotic  member  of 
this  Confederacy.  The  exposition  of  our  rights  already 
made  is  such  as,  from  the  high  reputation  of  the  commis- 
sioners by  whom  it  has  been  prepared,  we  had  a  right  to 
expect.  Our  interests  at  the  Court  of  the  Sovereign  who 
has  evinced  his  friendly  disposition  by  assuming  the  deli- 
cate task  of  arbitration  have  been  committed  to  a  citizen  of 
the  State  of  Maine,  whose  character,  talents,  and  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  subject  eminently  qualify  him  for  so 
responsible  a  trust.  With  full  confidence  in  the  justice  of 
our  cause  and  in  the  probity,  intelligence,  and  uncom- 
promising independence  of  the  illustrious  arbitrator,  we 
can  have  nothing-to  apprehend  from  the  result. 

From  France,  our  ancient  ally,  we  have  a  right  to  expect 
that  justice  which  becomes  the  sovereign  of  a  powerful, 
intelligent,  and  magnanimous  people.  The  beneficial  effects 
produced  by  the  commercial  convention  of  1822,  limited  as 


38  Andrew  Jackson 

are  its  provisions,  are  too  obvious  not  to  make  a  salutary 
impression  upon  the  minds  of  those  who  are  charged  with 
the  administration  of  her  Government.  Should  this  result 
induce  a  disposition  to  embrace  to  their  full  extent  the 
wholesome  principles  which  constitute  our  commercial  pol- 
icy, our  minister  to  that  Court  will  be  found  instructed  to 
cherish  such  a  disposition  and  to  aid  in  conducting  it  to  use- 
ful practical  conclusions.  The  claims  of  our  citizens  for 
depredations  upon  their  property,  long  since  committed 
under  the  authority,  and  in  many  instances  by  the  express 
direction,  of  the  then  existing  Government  of  France, 
remain  unsatisfied,  and  must  therefore  continue  to  furnish 
a  subject  of  unpleasant  discussion  and  possible  collision 
between  the  two  Governments.  I  cherish,  however,  a  lively 
hope,  founded  as  well  on  the  validity  of  those  claims  and 
the  established  policy  of  all  enlightened  governments  as  on 
the  known  integrity  of  the  French  Monarch,  that  the 
injurious  delays  of  the  past  will  find  redress  in  the  equity 
of  the  future.  Our  minister  has  been  instructed  to  press 
these  demands  on  the  French  Government  with  all  the 
earnestness  which  is  called  for  by  their  importance  and 
irrefutable  justice,  and  in  a  spirit  that  will  evince  the 
respect  which  is  due  to  the  feelings  of  those  from  whom 
the  satisfaction  is  required. 

Our  minister  recently  appointed  to  Spain  has  been  au- 
thorized to  assist  in  removing  evils  alike  injurious  to  both 
countries,  either  by  concluding  a  commercial  convention 
upon  liberal  and  reciprocal  terms  or  by  urging  the  accept- 
ance in  their  full  extent  of  the  mutually  beneficial  pro- 
visions of  our  navigation  acts.  He  has  also  been  instructed 
to  make  a  further  appeal  to  the  justice  of  Spain,  in  behalf 
of  our  citizens,  for  indemnity  for  spoliations  upon  our  com- 
merce committed  under  her  authority — an  appeal  which  the 
pacific  and  liberal  course  observed  on  oih-  part  and  a  due 
confidence  in  the  honor  of  that  Government  authorize  us 
to  expect  will  not  be  made  in  vain. 

With  other  European  powers  our  intercourse  is  on  the 
most  friendly  footing.     In  Russia,  placed  by  her  territorial 


First  Annual  Message  39 

limits,  extensive  population,  and  great  power  high  in  the 
rank  of  nations,  the  United  States  have  always  found  a 
steadfast  friend.  Although  her  recent  invasion  of  Turkey- 
awakened  a  lively  sympathy  for  those  who  were  exposed  to 
the  desolations  of  war,  we  can  not  but  anticipate  that  the 
result  will  prove  favorable  to  the  cause  of  civilization  and 
to  the  progress  of  human  happiness.  The  treaty  of  peace 
between  these  powers  having  been  ratified,  we  can  not  be 
insensible  to  the  great  benefit  to  be  derived  by  the  com- 
merce of  the  United  States  from  unlocking  the  navigation 
of  the  Black  Sea,  a  free  passage  into  which  is  secured  to 
all  merchant  vessels  bound  to  ports  of  Russia  under  a  flag 
at  peace  with  the  Porte.  This  advantage,  enjoyed  upon 
conditions  by  most  of  the  powers  of  Europe,  has  hitherto 
been  withheld  from  us.  During  the  past  summer  an  ante- 
cedent but  unsuccessful  attempt  to  obtain  it  was  renewed 
under  circumstances  which  promised  the  most  favorable 
results.  Although  these  results  have  fortunately  been  thus 
in  part  attained,  further  facilities  to  the  enjoyment  of  this 
new  field  for  the  enterprise  of  our  citizens  are,  in  my  opin- 
ion, sufficiently  desirable  to  insure  to  them  our  most  zeal- 
ous attention. 

Our  trade  with  Austria,  although  of  secondary  impor- 
tance, has  been  gradually  increasing,  and  is  now  so 
extended  as  to  deserve  the  fostering  care  of  the  Govern- 
ment. A  negotiation,  commenced  and  nearly  completed 
with  that  power  by  the  late  Administration,  has  been  con- 
summated by  a  treaty  of  amity,  navigation,  and  commerce, 
which  will  be  laid  before  the  Senate. 

During  the  recess  of  Congress  our  diplomatic  relations 
with  Portugal  have  been  resumed.  The  peculiar  state  of 
things  in  that  country  caused  a  suspension  of  the  recog- 
nition of  the  representative  who  presented  himself  until 
an  opportunity  was  had  to  obtain  from  our  official  organ 
there  information  regarding  the  actual  and,  as  far  as  prac- 
ticable, prospective  condition  of  the  authority  by  which 
the  representative  in  question  was  appointed.  This  in- 
formation   being    received,   the    application    of   the    estab- 


40  Andrew  Jackson 

Hshed  rule  of  our  Government  in  like  cases  was  no  longer 
withheld. 

Considerable  advances  have  been  made  during  the  pres- 
ent year  in  the  adjustment  of  claims  of  our  citizens  upon 
Denmark  for  spoliations,  but  all  that  we  have  a  right  to 
demand  from  that  Government  in  their  behalf  has  not  yet 
been  conceded.  From  the  liberal  footing,  however,  upon 
which  this  subject  has,  with  the  approbation  of  the  claim- 
ants, been  placed  by  the  Government,  together  with  the  uni- 
formly just  and  friendly  disposition  which  has  been  evinced 
by  His  Danish  Majesty,  there  is  a  reasonable  ground  to 
hope  that  this  single  subject  of  difference  will  speedily  be 
removed. 

Our  relations  with  the  Barbary  Powers  continue  as  they 
have  long  been,  of  the  most  favorable  character.  The 
policy  of  keeping  an  adequate  force  in  the  Mediterranean, 
as  security  for  the  continuance  of  this  tranquillity,  will  be 
persevered  in,  as  well  as  a  similar  one  for  the  protection  of 
our  commerce  and  fisheries  in  the  Pacific. 

The  southern  Republics  of  our  own  hemisphere  have  not 
yet  realized  all  the  advantages  for  which  they  have  been  so 
long  struggling.  We  trust,  however,  that  the  day  is  not 
distant  when  the  restoration  of  peace  and  internal  quiet, 
under  permanent  systems  of  government,  securing  the  lib- 
erty and  promoting  the  happiness  of  the  citizens,  will  crown 
with  complete  success  their  long  and  arduous  efforts  in  the 
cause  of  self-government,  and  enable  us  to  salute  them  as 
friendly  rivals  in  all  that  is  truly  great  and  glorious. 

The  recent  invasion  of  Mexico,  and  the  effect  thereby 
produced  upon  her  domestic  policy,  must  have  a  controlling 
influence  upon  the  great  question  of  South  American 
emancipation.  We  have  seen  the  fell  spirit  of  civil  dis- 
sension rebuked,  and  perhaps  forever  stifled,  in  that  Repub- 
lic by  the  love  of  independence.  If  it  be  true,  as  appear- 
ances strongly  indicate,  that  the  spirit  of  independence  is 
the  master  spirit,  and  if  a  corresponding  sentiment  pre- 
vails in  the  other  States,  this  devotion  to  liberty  can  not  be 
without  a  proper  effect  upon  the  counsels  of  the  mother 


First  Annual  Message  4^ 

country.  The  adoption  by  Spain  of  a  pacific  policy  toward 
her  former  colonies — an  event  consoling  to  humanity,  and 
a  blessing  to  the  world,  in  which  she  herself  can  not  fail 
largely  to  participate — may  be  most  reasonably  expected. 

The  claims  of  our  citizens  upon  the  South  American  Gov- 
ernments generally  are  in  a  train  of  settlement,  while  the 
principal  part  of  those  upon  Brazil  have  been  adjusted,  and 
a  decree  in  council  ordering  bonds  to  be  issued  by  the  min- 
ister of  the  treasury  for  their  amount  has  received  the 
sanction  of  His  Imperial  Majesty.  This  event,  together 
with  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications  of  the  treaty  nego- 
tiated and  concluded  in  1828,  happily  terminates  all  serious 
causes  of  difference  with  that  power. 

Measures  have  been  taken  to  place  our  commercial  rela- 
tions with  Peru  upon  a  better  footing  than  that  upon  which 
they  have  hitherto  rested,  and  if  met  by  a  proper  dispo- 
sition on  the  part  of  that  Government  important  benefits 
may  be  secured  to  both  countries. 

Deeply  interested  as  we  are  in  the  prosperity  of  our  sister 
Republics,  and  more  particularly  in  that  of  our  immediate 
neighbor,  it  would  be  most  gratifying  to  me  were  I  per- 
mitted to  say  that  the  treatment  which  we  have  received  at 
her  hands  has  been  as  universally  friendly  as  the  early  and 
constant  solicitude  manifested  by  the  United  States  for  her 
success  gave  us  a  right  to  expect.  But  it  becomes  my  duty 
to  inform  you  that  prejudices  long  indulged  by  a  portion  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Mexico  against  the  envoy  extraordinary 
and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  have  had 
an  unfortunate  influence  upon  the  affairs  of  the  two  coun- 
tries, and  have  diminished  that  usefulness  to  his  own  which 
was  justly  to  be  expected  from  his  talents  and  zeal.  To 
this  cause,  in  a  great  degree,  is  to  be  imputed  the  failure 
of  several  measures  equally  interesting  to  both  parties,  but 
particularly  that  of  the  Mexican  Government  to  ratify  a 
treaty  negotiated  and  concluded  in  its  own  capital  and  under 
its  own  eye.  Under  these  circumstances  it  appeared  expe- 
dient to  give  to  Mr.  Poinsett  the  option  either  to  return  or 
not,  as  in  his  judgment  the  interest  of  his  country  might 


42  Andrew  Jackson 

require,  and  instructions  to  that  end  were  prepared;  but 
before  they  could  be  dispatched  a  communication  was 
received  from  the  Government  of  Mexico,  through  its 
charge  d'affaires  here,  requesting  the  recall  of  our  minister. 
This  was  promptly  complied  with,  and  a  representative  of  a 
rank  corresponding  with  that  of  the  Mexican  diplomatic 
agent  near  this  Government  was  appointed.  Our  conduct 
toward  that  Republic  has  been  uniformly  of  the  most 
friendly  character,  and  having  thus  removed  the  only 
alleged  obstacle  to  harmonious  intercourse,  I  can  not  but 
hope  that  an  advantageous  change  will  occur  in  our  affairs. 

In  justice  to  Mr.  Poinsett  it  is  proper  to  say  that  my 
immediate  compliance  with  the  application  for  his  recall 
and  the  appointment  of  a  successor  are  not  to  be  ascribed 
to  any  evidence  that  the  imputation  of  an  improper  inter- 
ference by  him  in  the  local  politics  of  Mexico  was  well 
founded,  nor  to  a  want  of  confidence  in  his  talents  or  integ- 
rity, and  to  add  that  the  truth  of  that  charge  has  never  been 
affirmed  by  the  federal  Government  of  Mexico  in  its  com- 
munications with  this. 

I  consider  it  one  of  the  most  urgent  of  my  duties  to  bring 
to  your  attention  the  propriety  of  amending  that  part  of 
our  Constitution  which  relates  to  the  election  of  President 
and  Vice-President.  Our  system  of  government  was  by 
its  framers  deemed  an  experiment,  and  they  therefore  con- 
sistently provided  a  mode  of  remedying  its  defects. 

To  the  people  belongs  the  rights  of  electing  their  Chief 
Magistrate;  it  was  never  designed  that  their  choice  should 
in  any  case  be  defeated,  either  by  the  intervention  of  elec- 
toral colleges  or  by  the  agency  confided,  under  certain  con- 
tingencies, to  the  House  of  Representatives.  Experience 
proves  that  in  proportion  as  agents  to  execute  the  will  of 
the  people  are  multiplied  there  is  danger  of  their  wishes 
being  frustrated.  Some  may  be  unfaithful;  all  are  liable 
to  err.  So  far,  therefore,  as  the  people  can  with  conven- 
ience speak,  it  is  safer  for  them  to  express  their  own  will. 

The  number  of  aspirants  to  the  Presidency  and  the 
diversity  of  the  interests  which  may  influence  their  claims 


First   Annual   Message  43 

leave  little  reason  to  expect  a  choice  in  the  first  instance,  and 
in  that  event  the  election  must  devolve  on  the  House  of 
Representatives,  where  it  is  obvious  the  will  of  the  people 
may  not  be  always  ascertained,  or,  if  ascertained,  may  not 
be  regarded.  From  the  mode  of  voting  by  States  the  choice 
is  to  be  made  by  24  votes,  and  it  may  often  occur  that  one 
of  these  will  be  controlled  by  an  individual  Representative. 
Honors  and  offices  are  at  the  disposal  of  the  successful  can- 
didate. Repeated  ballotings  may  make  it  apparent  that  a 
single  individual  holds  the  cast  in  his  hand.  May  he  not  be 
tempted  to  name  his  reward  ?  But  even  without  corruption, 
supposing  the  probity  of  the  Representative  to  be  proof 
against  the  powerful  motives  by  which  it  may  be  assailed, 
the  will  of  the  people  is  still  constantly  liable  to  be  misrepre- 
sented. One  may  err  from  ignorance  of  the  wishes  of  his 
constituents;  another  from  a  conviction  that  it  is  his  duty 
to  be  governed  by  his  own  judgment  of  the  fitness  of  the 
candidates;  finally,  although  all  were  inflexibly  honest,  all 
accurately  informed  of  the  wishes  of  their  constituents,  yet 
under  the  present  mode  of  election  a  minority  may  often 
elect  a  President,  and  when  this  happens  it  may  reasonably 
be  expected  that  efforts  will  be  made  on  the  part  of  the 
majority  to  rectify  this  injurious  operation  of  their  insti- 
tutions. But  although  no  evil  of  this  character  should 
result  from  such  a  perversion  of  the  first  principle  of  our 
system — that  the  majority  is  to  govern — it  must  be  very 
certain  that  a  President  elected  by  a  minority  can  not  enjoy 
the  confidence  necessary  to  the  successful  discharge  of  his 
duties. 

In  this  as  in  all  other  matters  of  public  concern  policy 
requires  that  as  few  impediments  as  possible  should  exist 
to  the  free  operation  of  the  public  will.  Let  us,  then, 
endeavor  so  to  amend  our  system  that  the  office  of  Chief 
Magistrate  may  not  be  conferred  upon  any  citizen  but  in 
pursuance  of  a  fair  expression  of  the  will  of  the  majority. 

I  would  therefore  recommend  such  an  amendment  of  the 
Constitution  as  may  remove  all  intermediate  agency  in  the 
election  of  the  President  and  Vice-President.     The  mode 


44  Andrew  Jackson 

may  be  so  regulated  as  to  preserve  to  each  State  its  present 
relative  weight  in  the  election,  and  a  failure  in  the  first 
attempt  may  be  provided  for  by  confining  the  second  to  a 
choice  between  the  two  highest  candidates.  In  connection 
with  such  an  amendment  it  would  seem  advisable  to  limit 
the  service  of  the  Chief  Magistrate  to  a  single  term  of 
either  four  or  six  years.  If,  however,  it  should  not  be 
adopted,  it  is  worthy  of  consideration  whether  a  provision 
disqualifying  for  office  the  Representatives  in  Congress  on 
whom  such  an  election  may  have  devolved  would  not  be 
proper. 

While  members  of  Congress  can  be  constitutionally  ap- 
pointed to  offices  of  trust  and  profit  it  will  be  the  practice, 
even  under  the  most  conscientious  adherence  to  duty,  to 
select  them  for  such  stations  as  they  are  believed  to  be  bet- 
ter qualified  to  fill  than  other  citizens;  but  the  purity  of 
our  Government  would  doubtless  be  promoted  by  their 
exclusion  from  all  appointments  in  the  gift  of  the  President, 
in  whose  election  they  may  have  been  officially  concerned. 
The  nature  of  the  judicial  office  and  the  necessity  of  secur- 
ing in  the  Cabinet  and  in  diplomatic  stations  of  the  highest 
rank  the  best  talents  and  political  experience  should,  per- 
haps, except  these  from  the  exclusion. 

There  are,  perhaps,  few  men  who  can  for  any  great 
length  of  time  enjoy  office  and  power  without  being  more 
or  less  under  the  influence  of  feelings  unfavorable  to  the 
faithful  discharge  of  their  public  duties.  Their  integrity 
may  be  proof  against  improper  considerations  immediately 
addressed  to  themselves,  but  they  are  apt  to  acquire  a  habit 
of  looking  with  indifference  upon  the  public  interests  and  of 
tolerating  conduct  from  which  an  unpracticed  man  would 
revolt.  Office  is  considered  as  a  species  of  property,  and 
government  rather  as  a  means  of  promoting  individual  in- 
terests than  as  an  instrument  created  solely  for  the  service 
of  the  people.  Corruption  in  some  and  in  others  a  per- 
version of  correct  feelings  and  principles  divert  govern- 
ment from  its  legitimate  ends  and  make  it  an  engine  for 
the  support  of  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many.     The 


First  Annual  Message  45 

duties  of  all  public  officers  are,  or  at  least  admit  of  being 
made,  so  plain  and  simple  that  men  of  intelligence  may 
readily  qualify  themselves  for  their  performance;  and  I  can 
not  but  believe  that  more  is  lost  by  the  long  continuance  of 
men  in  office  than  is  generally  to  be  gained  by  their  experi- 
ence. I  submit,  therefore,  to  your  consideration  whether 
the  efficiency  of  the  Government  would  not  be  promoted 
and  official  industry  and  integrity  better  secured  by  a  gen- 
eral extension  of  the  law  which  limits  appointments  to 
four  years. 

In  a  country  where  offices  are  created  solely  for  the  ben- 
efit of  the  people  no  one  man  has  any  more  intrinsic  right 
to  official  station  than  another.  Offices  were  not  established 
to  give  support  to  particular  men  at  the  public  expense.  No 
individual  wrong  is,  therefore,  done  by  removal,  since 
neither  appointment  to  nor  continuance  in  office  is  matter 
of  right.  The  incumbent  became  an  officer  with  a  view  to 
public  benefits,  and  when  these  require  his  removal  they  are 
not  to  be  sacrificed  to  private  interests.  It  is  the  people, 
and  they  alone,  who  have  a  right  to  complain  when  a  bad 
officer  is  substituted  for  a  good  one.  He  who  is  removed 
has  the  same  means  of  obtaining  a  living  that  are  enjoyed 
by  the  millions  who  never  held  office.  The  proposed  lim- 
itation would  destroy  the  idea  of  property  now  so  gen- 
erally connected  with  official  station,  and  although  indi- 
vidual distress  may  be  sometimes  produced,  it  would,  by 
promoting  that  rotation  which  constitutes  a  leading  prin- 
ciple in  the  republican  creed,  give  healthful  action  to  the 
system. 

No  very  considerable  change  has  occurred  during  the 
recess  of  Congress  in  the  condition  of  either  our  agri- 
culture, commerce,  or  manufactures.  The  operation  of  the 
tariff  has  not  proved  so  injurious  to  the  two  former  or  as 
beneficial  to  the  latter  as  was  anticipated.  Importations  of 
foreign  goods  have  not  been  sensibly  diminished,  while 
domestic  competition,  under  an  illusive  excitement,  has 
increased  the  production  much  beyond  the  demand  for 
home    consumption.      The    consequences    have    been    low 


4^  Andrew   Jackson 

prices,  temporary  embarrassment,  and  partial  loss.  That 
such  of  our  manufacturing  establishments  as  are  based 
upon  capital  and  are  prudently  managed  will  survive  the 
shock  and  be  ultimately  profitable  there  is  no  good  reason 
to  doubt. 

To  regulate  its  conduct  so  as  to  promote  equally  the 
prosperity  of  these  three  cardinal  interests  is  one  of  the 
most  difficult  tasks  of  Government ;  and  it  may  be  regretted 
that  the  complicated  restrictions  which  now  embarrass  the 
intercourse  of  nations  could  not  by  common  consent  be 
abolished,  and  commerce  allowed  to  flow  in  those  channels 
to  which  individual  enterprise,  always  its  surest  guide, 
might  direct  it.  But  we  must  ever  expect  selfish  legislation 
in  other  nations,  and  are  therefore  compelled  to  adapt  our 
own  to  their  regulations  in  the  manner  best  calculated  to 
avoid  serious  injury  and  to  harmonize  the  conflicting  in- 
terests of  our  agriculture,  our  commerce,  and  our  manu- 
factures. Under  these  impressions  I  invite  your  attention 
to  the  existing  tariff,  believing  that  some  of  its  provisions 
require  modification. 

The  general  rule  to  be  applied  in  graduating  the  duties 
upon  articles  of  foreign  growth  or  manufacture  is  that 
which  will  place  our  own  in  fair  competition  with  those  of 
other  countries ;  and  the  inducements  to  advance  even  a  step 
beyond  this  point  are  controlling  in  regard  to  those  articles 
which  are  of  primary  necessity  in  time  of  war.  \\'hen  we 
reflect  upon  the  difficulty  and  delicacy  of  this  operation,  it  is 
important  that  it  should  never  be  attempted  but  with  the 
utmost  caution.  Frequent  legislation  in  regard  to  any 
branch  of  industry,  affecting  its  value,  and  by  which  its 
capital  may  be  transferred  to  new  channels,  must  always  be 
productive  of  hazardous  speculation  and  loss. 

In  deliberating,  therefore,  on  these  interesting  subjects 
local  feelings  and  prejudices  should  be  merged  in  the  pa- 
triotic determination  to  promote  the  great  interests  of  the 
whole.  All  attempts  to  connect  them  with  the  party  con- 
flicts of  the  day  are  necessarily  injurious,  and  should  be 
discountenanced.     Our  action  upon  them  should  be  under 


First  Annual  Message  47 

the  control  of  higher  and  purer  motives.  Legislation  sub- 
jected to  such  influences  can  never  be  just,  and  wiW  not 
long  retain  the  sanction  of  a  people  w^hose  active  patriotism 
is  not  bounded  by  sectional  limits  nor  insensible  to  that 
spirit  of  concession  and  forbearance  which  gave  life  to  our 
political  compact  and  still  sustains  it.  Discarding  all  cal- 
culations of  political  ascendency,  the  North,  the  South,  the 
East,  and  the  West  should  unite  in  diminishing  any 
burthen  of  which  either  may  justly  complain. 

The  agricultural  interest  of  our  country  is  so  essentially 
connected  with  every  other  and  so  superior  in  importance 
to  them  all  that  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  invite  to  it  your 
particular  attention.  It  is  principally  as  manufactures  and 
commerce  tend  to  increase  the  value  of  agricultural  pro- 
ductions and  to  extend  their  application  to  the  wants  and 
comforts  of  society  that  they  deserve  the  fostering  care  of 
Government. 

Looking  forward  to  the  period,  not  far  distant,  when  a 
sinking  fund  will  no  longer  be  required,  the  duties  on 
those  articles  of  importation  which  can  not  come  in  compe- 
tition with  our  own  productions  are  the  first  that  should 
engage  the  attention  of  Congress  in  the  modification  of  the 
tariff.  Of  these,  tea  and  coffee  are  the  most  prominent. 
They  enter  largely  into  the  consumption  of  the  country, 
and  have  become  articles  of  necessity  to  all  classes.  A 
reduction,  therefore,  of  the  existing  duties  will  be  felt  as 
a  common  benefit,  but  like  all  other  legislation  connected 
with  commerce,  to  be  efficacious  and  not  injurious  it  should 
be  gradual  and  certain. 

The  public  prosperity  is  evinced  in  the  increased  revenue 
arising  from  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  and  in  the  steady 
maintenance  of  that  produced  by  imposts  and  tonnage,  not- 
withstanding the  additional  duties  imposed  by  the  act  of 
19th  May,  1828,  and  the  unusual  importations  in  the  early 
part  of  that  year. 

The  balance  in  the  Treasury  on  January  i,  1829,  was 
$5,972,435.81.  The  receipts  of  the  current  year  are  esti- 
mated at  $24,602,230  and  the  expenditures  for  the  same 


4^  Andrew  Jackson 

time  at  $26,164,595,  leaving  a  balance  in  the  Treasury  on 
the  I  St  of  January  next  of  $4,410,070.81. 

There  will  have  been  paid  on  account  of  the  public  debt 
during  the  present  year  the  sum  of  $12,405,005.80,  redu- 
cing the  whole  debt  of  the  Government  on  the  ist  of  Jan- 
uary next  to  $48,565,406.50,  including  seven  millions  of  5 
per  cent  stock  subscribed  to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States. 
The  payment  on  account  of  public  debt  made  on  the  ist  of 
July  last  was  $8,715,462.87.  It  was  apprehended  that  the 
sudden  withdrawal  of  so  large  a  sum  from  the  banks  in 
which  it  was  deposited,  at  a  time  of  unusual  pressure  in 
the  money  market,  might  cause  much  injury  to  the  interests 
dependent  on  bank  accommodations.  But  this  evil  was 
wholly  averted  by  an  early  anticipation  of  it  at  the  Treas- 
ury, aided  by  the  judicious  arrangements  of  the  officers  of 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States. 

This  state  of  the  finances  exhibits  the  resources  of  the 
nation  in  an  aspect  highly  flattering  to  its  industry  and 
auspicious  of  the  ability  of  Government  in  a  very  short  time 
to  extinguish  the  public  debt.  When  this  shall  be  done  our 
population  will  be  relieved  from  a  considerable  portion  of 
its  present  burthens,  and  will  find  not  only  new  motives  to 
patriotic  affection,  but  additional  means  for  the  display  of 
individual  enterprise.  The  fiscal  power  of  the  States  will 
also  be  increased,  and  may  be  more  extensively  exerted  in 
favor  of  education  and  other  public  objects,  while  ample 
means  will  remain  in  the  Federal  Government  to  promote 
the  general  weal  in  all  the  modes  permitted  to  its  authority. 

After  the  extinction  of  the  public  debt  it  is  not  probable 
that  any  adjustment  of  the  tariflf  upon  principles  satisfac- 
tory to  the  people  of  the  Union  will  until  a  remote  period, 
if  ever,  leave  the  Government  without  a  considerable  sur- 
plus in  the  Treasury  beyond  what  may  be  required  for  its 
current  service.  As,  then,  the  period  approaches  when  the 
application  of  the  revenue  to  the  payment  of  debt  will  cease, 
the  disposition  of  the  surplus  will  present  a  subject  for  the 
serious  deliberation  of  Congress;  and  it  may  be  fortunate 
for  the  country  that  it  is  yet  to  be  decided.     Considered  in 


First  Annual  Message  49 

connection  with  the  difficulties  which  have  heretofore  at- 
tended appropriations  for  purposes  of  internal  improve- 
ment, and  with  those  which  this  experience  tells  us  will 
certainly  arise  whenever  power  over  such  subjects  may  be 
exercised  by  the  General  Government,  it  is  hoped  that  it 
may  lead  to  the  adoption  of  some  plan  which  will  reconcile 
the  diversified  interests  of  the  States  and  strengthen  the 
bonds  which  unite  them.  Every  member  of  the  Union,  in 
peace  and  in  war,  will  be  benefited  by  the  improvement  of 
inland  navigation  and  the  construction  of  highways  in  the 
several  States.  Let  us,  then,  endeavor  to  attain  this  bene- 
fit in  a  mode  which  will  be  satisfactory  to  all.  That  hither- 
to adopted  has  by  many  of  our  fellow-citizens  been  depre- 
cated as  an  infraction  of  the  Constitution,  while  by  others 
it  has  been  viewed  as  inexpedient.  All  feel  that  it  has  been 
employed  at  the  expense  of  harmony  in  the  legislative 
councils. 

To  avoid  these  evils  it  appears  to  me  that  the  most  safe, 
just,  and  federal  disposition  which  could  be  made  of  the 
surplus  revenue  would  be  its  apportionment  among  the  sev- 
eral States  according  to  their  ratio  of  representation,  and 
should  this  measure  not  be  found  warranted  by  the  Con- 
stitution that  it  would  be  expedient  to  propose  to  the  States 
an  amendment  authorizing  it.  I  regard  an  appeal  to  the 
source  of  power  in  cases  of  real  doubt,  and  where  its  exer- 
cise is  deemed  indispensable  to  the  general  welfare,  as 
among  the  most  sacred  of  all  our  obligations.  Upon  this 
country  more  than  any  other  has,  in  the  providence  of  God, 
been  cast  the  special  guardianship  of  the  great  principle  of 
adherence  to  written  constitutions.  If  it  fail  here,  all  hope 
in  regard  to  it  will  be  extinguished.  That  this  was  in- 
tended to  be  a  government  of  limited  and  specific,  and  not 
general,  powers  must  be  admitted  by  all,  and  it  is  our  duty 
to  preserve  for  it  the  character  intended  by  its  framers.  If 
experience  points  out  the  necessity  for  an  enlargement  of 
these  powers,  let  us  apply  for  it  to  those  for  whose  bene- 
fit it  is  to  be  exercised,  and  not  undermine  the  whole  sys- 
tem by  a  resort  to  overstrained  constructions.    The  scheme 


5°  Andrew  Jackson 

has  worked  well.  It  has  exceeded  the  hopes  of  those  who 
devised  it,  and  become  an  object  of  admiration  to  the 
world.  We  are  responsible  to  our  country  and  to  the  glo- 
rious cause  of  self-government  for  the  preservation  of  so 
great  a  good.  The  great  mass  of  legislation  relating  to  our 
internal  affairs  was  intended  to  be  left  where  the  Federal 
Convention  found  it — in  the  State  governments.  Nothing 
is  clearer,  in  my  view,  than  that  we  are  chiefly  indebted  for 
the  success  of  the  Constitution  under  which  we  are  now 
acting  to  the  watchful  and  auxiliary  operation  of  the  State 
authorities.  This  is  not  the  reflection  of  a  day^  but  belongs 
to  the  most  deeply  rooted  convictions  of  my  mind.  I  can 
not,  therefore,  too  strongly  or  too  earnestly,  for  my  own 
sense  of  its  importance,  warn  you  against  all  encroachments 
upon  the  legitimate  sphere  of  State  sovereignty.  Sustained 
by  its  healthful  and  invigorating  influence  the  federal  sys- 
tem can  never  fall. 

In  the  collection  of  the  revenue  the  long  credits  au- 
thorized on  goods  imported  from  beyond  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  are  the  chief  cause  of  the  losses  at  present  sustained. 
If  these  were  shortened  to  six,  nine,  and  twelve  months, 
and  warehouses  provided  by  Government  sufficient  to 
receive  the  goods  offered  in  deposit  for  security  and  for 
debenture,  and  if  the  right  of  the  United  States  to  a  prior- 
ity of  payment  out  of  the  estates  of  its  insolvent  debtors 
were  more  effectually  secured,  this  evil  would  in  a  great 
measure  be  obviated.  An  authority  to  construct  such 
houses  is  therefore,  with  the  proposed  alteration  of  the 
credits,  recommended  to  your  attention. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  laws  for  the  collection  and 
security  of  the  revenue  arising  from  imposts  were  chiefly 
framed  when  the  rates  of  duties  on  imported  goods  pre- 
sented much  less  temptation  for  illicit  trade  than  at  present 
exists.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  these  laws  are  in 
some  respects  quite  insufficient  for  the  proper  security  of 
the  revenue  and  the  protection  of  the  interests  of  those  who 
are  disposed  to  observe  them.  The  injurious  and  demoral- 
izing tendency  of  a  successful  system  of  smuggling  is  so 


First   Annual  Message  5^ 

obvious  as  not  to  require  comment,  and  can  not  be  too 
carefully  guarded  against,  I  therefore  suggest  to  Congress 
the  propriety  of  adopting  efficient  measures  to  prevent  this 
evil,  avoiding,  however,  as  much  as  possible,  every  unnec- 
essary infringement  of  individual  liberty  and  embarrass- 
ment of  fair  and  lawful  business. 

On  an  examination  of  the  records  of  the  Treasury  I  have 
been  forcibly  struck  with  the  large  amount  of  public  money 
which  appears  to  be  outstanding.  Of  the  sum  thus  due 
from  individuals  to  the  Government  a  considerable  portion 
is  undoubtedly  desperate,  and  in  many  instances  has  prob- 
ably been  rendered  so  by  remissness  in  the  agents  charged 
with  its  collection.  By  proper  exertions  a  great  part,  how- 
ever, may  yet  be  recovered ;  and  whatever  may  be  the  por- 
tions respectively  belonging  to  these  two  classes,  it  be- 
hooves the  Government  to  ascertain  the  real  state  of  the 
fact.  This  can  be  done  only  by  the  prompt  adoption  of 
judicious  measures  for  the  collection  of  such  as  may  be 
made  available.  It  is  believed  that  a  very  large  amount  has 
been  lost  through  the  inadequacy  of  the  means  provided  for 
the  collection  of  debts  due  to  the  public,  and  that  this  inad- 
equacy lies  chiefly  in  the  want  of  legal  skill  habitually  and 
constantly  employed  in  the  direction  of  the  agents  engaged 
in  the  service.  It  must,  I  think,  be  admitted  that  the  su- 
pervisory power  over  suits  brought  by  the  public,  which  is 
now  vested  in  an  accounting  officer  of  the  Treasury,  not 
selected  with  a  view  to  his  legal  knowledge,  and  encum- 
bered as  he  is  with  numerous  other  duties,  operates  un- 
favorably to  the  public  interest. 

It  is  important  that  this  branch  of  the  public  service 
should  be  subjected  to  the  supervision  of  such  professional 
skill  as  will  give  it  efficiency.  The  expense  attendant  upon 
such  a  modification  of  the  executive  department  would  be 
justified  by  the  soundest  principles  of  economy.  I  would 
recommend,  therefore,  that  the  duties  now  assigned  to  the 
agent  of  the  Treasury,  so  far  as  they  relate  to  the  super- 
intendence and  management  of  legal  proceedings  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States,  be  transferred  to  the  Attorney- 


52  Andrew  Jackson 

General,  and  that  this  officer  be  placed  on  the  same  footing 
in  all  respects  as  the  heads  of  the  other  Departments,  receiv- 
ing like  compensation  and  having  such  subordinate  officers 
provided  for  his  Department  as  may  be  requisite  for  the 
discharge  of  these  additional  duties.  The  professional  skill 
of  the  Attorney-General,  employed  in  directing  the  conduct 
of  marshals  and  district  attorneys,  v^ould  hasten  the  col- 
lection of  debts  now  in  suit  and  hereafter  save  much  to  the 
Government.  It  might  be  further  extended  to  the  superin- 
tendence of  all  criminal  proceedings  for  offenses  against 
the  United  States.  In  making  this  transfer  great  care 
should  be  taken,  however,  that  the  power  necessary  to  the 
Treasury  Department  be  not  impaired,  one  of  its  greatest 
securities  consisting  in  a  control  over  all  accounts  until  they 
are  audited  or  reported  for  suit. 

In  connection  with  the  foregoing  views  I  would  sug- 
gest also  an  inquiry  whether  the  provisions  of  the  act  of 
Congress  authorizing  the  discharge  of  the  persons  of  debt- 
ors to  the  Government  from  imprisonment  may  not,  con- 
sistently with  the  public  interest,  be  extended  to  the  re- 
lease of  the  debt  where  the  conduct  of  the  debtor  is  wholly 
exempt  from  the  imputation  of  fraud.  Some  more  liberal 
policy  than  that  which  now  prevails  in  reference  to  this 
unfortunate  class  of  citizens  is  certainly  due  to  them,  and 
would  prove  beneficial  to  the  country.  The  continuance  of 
the  liability  after  the  means  to  discharge  it  have  been  ex- 
hausted can  only  serve  to  dispirit  the  debtor;  or,  where  his 
resources  are  but  partial,  the  want  of  power  in  the  Gov- 
ernment to  compromise  and  release  the  demand  instigates 
to  fraud  as  the  only  resource  for  securing  a  support  to 
his  family.  He  thus  sinks  into  a  state  of  apathy,  and  be- 
comes a  useless  drone  in  society  or  a  vicious  member  of  it, 
if  not  a  feeling  witness  of  the  rigor  and  inhumanity  of 
his  country.  All  experience  proves  that  oppressive  debt 
is  the  bane  of  enterprise,  and  it  should  be  the  care  of  a  re- 
public not  to  exert  a  grinding  power  over  misfortune  and 
poverty. 

Since  the  last  session  of  Congress  numerous  frauds  on 


First  Annual  Message  53 

the  Treasury  have  been  discovered,  which  I  thought  it  my 
duty  to  bring  under  the  cognizance  of  the  United  States 
court  for  this  district  by  a  criminal  prosecution.  It  was 
my  opinion  and  that  of  able  counsel  who  were  consulted 
that  the  cases  came  within  the  penalties  of  the  act  of  the 
Seventeenth  Congress  approved  3d  March,  1823,  providing 
for  the  punishment  of  frauds  committed  on  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States.  Either  from  some  defect  in  the 
law  or  in  its  administration  every  effort  to  bring  the 
accused  to  trial  under  its  provisions  proved  ineffectual,  and 
the  Government  was  driven  to  the  necessity  of  resorting  to 
the  vague  and  inadequate  provisions  of  the  common  law. 
It  is  therefore  my  duty  to  call  your  attention  to  the  laws 
which  have  been  passed  for  the  protection  of  the  Treasury. 
If,  indeed,  there  be  no  provision  by  which  those  who 
may  be  unworthily  intrusted  with  its  guardianship  can  be 
punished  for  the  most  flagrant  violation  of  duty,  extending 
even  to  the  most  fraudulent  appropriation  of  the  public 
funds  to  their  own  use,  it  is  time  to  remedy  so  dangerous 
an  omission;  on  if  the  law  has  been  perverted  from  its 
original  purposes,  and  criminals  deserving  to  be  punished 
under  its  provisions  have  been  rescued  by  legal  subtleties, 
it  ought  to  be  made  so  plain  by  amendatory  provisions  as 
to  baffle  the  arts  of  perversion  and  accomplish  the  ends  of 
its  original  enactment. 

In  one  of  the  most  flagrant  cases  the  court  decided  that 
the  prosecution  was  barred  by  the  statute  which  limits  pros- 
ecutions for  fraud  to  two  years.  In  this  case  all  the  evi- 
dences of  the  fraud,  and,  indeed,  all  knowledge  that  a  fraud 
had  been  committed,  were  in  possession  of  the  party  accused 
until  after  the  two  years  had  elapsed.  Surely  the  statute 
ought  not  to  run  in  favor  of  any  man  while  he  retains  all 
the  evidences  of  his  crime  in  his  own  possession,  and  least 
of  all  in  favor  of  a  public  officer  who  continues  to  defraud 
the  Treasury  and  conceal  the  transaction  for  the  brief  term 
of  two  years.  I  would  therefore  recommend  such  an  alter- 
ation of  the  law  as  will  give  the  injured  party  and  the 
Government  two  years  after  the  disclosure  of  the  fraud  or 


54  Andrew  Jackson 

after  the  accused  is  out  of  office  to  commence  their  prose- 
cution. 

In  connection  with  this  subject  I  invite  the  attention  of 
Congress  to  a  general  and  minute  inquiry  into  the  condition 
of  the  Government,  with  a  view  to  ascertain  what  offices 
can  be  dispensed  with,  what  expenses  retrenched,  and  what 
improvements  may  be  made  in  the  organization  of  its 
various  parts  to  secure  the  proper  responsibiHty  of  pubHc 
agents  and  promote  efficiency  and  justice  in  all  its 
operations. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  will  make  you 
acquainted  with  the  condition  of  our  Army,  fortifications, 
arsenals,  and  Indian  affairs.  The  proper  discipline  of  the 
Army,  the  training  and  equipment  of  the  militia,  the  edu- 
cation bestowed  at  West  Point,  and  the  accumulation  of  the 
means  of  defense  applicable  to  the  naval  force  will  tend  to 
prolong  the  peace  we  now  enjoy,  and  which  every  good 
citizen,  more  especially  those  who  have  felt  the  miseries  of 
even  a  successful  warfare,  must  ardently  desire  to  perpet- 
uate. 

The  returns  from  the  subordinate  branches  of  this  service 
exhibit  a  regularity  and  order  highly  creditable  to  its  char- 
acter. Both  officers  and  soldiers  seem  imbued  with  a 
proper  sense  of  duty,  and  conform  to  the  restraints  of 
exact  discipline  with  that  cheerfulness  which  becomes  the 
profession  of  arms.  There  is  need,  however,  of  further  leg- 
islation to  obviate  the  inconveniences  specified  in  the  report 
under  consideration,  to  some  of  which  it  is  proper  that  I 
should  call  your  particular  attention. 

The  act  of  Congress  of  the  2d  March,  1821,  to  reduce 
and  fix  the  military  establishment,  remaining  unexecuted 
as  it  regards  the  command  of  one  of  the  regiments  of  artil- 
lery, can  not  now  be  deemed  a  guide  to  the  Executive  in 
making  the  proper  appointment.  An  explanatory  act.  des- 
ignating the  class  of  officers  out  of  which  this  grade  is  to 
be  filled — whether  from  the  military  list  as  existing  prior  to 
the  act  of  1821  or  from  it  as  it  has  been  fixed  by  that  act — 
would  remove  this  difficulty.     It  is  also  important  that  the 


First   Annual   Message  55 

laws  regulating  the  pay  and  emoluments  of  officers  gen- 
erally should  be  more  specific  than  they  now  are.  Those, 
for  example,  in  relation  to  the  Paymaster  and  Surgeon 
General  assign  to  them  an  annual  salary  of  $2,500,  but  are 
silent  as  to  allowances  which  in  certain  exigencies  of  the 
service  may  be  deemed  indispensable  to  the  discharge  of 
their  duties.  This  circumstance  has  been  the  authority  for 
extending  to  them  various  allowances  at  different  times 
under  former  Administrations,  but  no  uniform  rule  has 
been  observed  on  the  subject.  Similar  inconveniences 
exist  in  other  cases,  in  which  the  construction  put  upon  the 
laws  by  the  public  accountants  may  operate  unequally, 
produce  confusion,  and  expose  officers  to  the  odium  of 
claiming  what  is  not  their  due, 

I  recommend  to  your  fostering  care,  as  one  of  our  safest 
means  of  national  defense,  the  Military  Academy.  This 
institution  has  already  exercised  the  happiest  influence  upon 
the  moral  and  intellectual  character  of  our  Army ;  and  such 
of  the  graduates  as  from  various  causes  may  not  pursue  the 
profession  of  arms  will  be  scarcely  less  useful  as  citizens. 
Their  knowledge  of  the  military  art  will  be  advantageously 
employed  in  the  militia  service,  and  in  a  measure  secure  to 
that  class  of  troops  the  advantages  which  in  this  respect 
belong  to  standing  armies. 

I  would  also  suggest  a  review  of  the  pension  law,  for  the 
purpose  of  extending  its  benefits  to  every  Revolutionary 
soldier  who  aided  in  establishing  our  liberties,  and  who  is 
unable  to  maintain  himself  in  comfort.  These  relics  of 
the  War  of  Independence  have  strong  claims  upon  their 
country's  gratitude  and  bounty.  The  law  is  defective  in 
not  embracing  within  its  provisions  all  those  who  were  dur- 
ing the  last  war  disabled  from  supporting  themselves  by 
manual  labor.  Such  an  amendment  would  add  but  little 
to  the  amount  of  pensions,  and  is  called  for  by  the  sym- 
pathies of  the  people  as  well  as  by  considerations  of  sound 
policy.  It  will  be  perceived  that  a  large  addition  to  the 
list  of  pensioners  has  been  occasioned  by  an  order  of  the 
late   Administration,   departing  materially    from   the  rules 


5^  Andrew  Jackson 

which  had  previously  prevailed.  Considering  it  an  act  of 
legislation,  I  suspended  its  operation  as  soon  as  I  was 
informed  that  it  had  commenced.  Before  this  period,  how- 
ever, applications  under  the  new  regulation  had  been  pre- 
ferred to  the  number  of  154,  of  which,  on  the  27th  March, 
the  date  of  its  revocation,  87  were  admitted.  For  the 
amount  there  was  neither  estimate  nor  appropriation;  and 
besides  this  deficiency,  the  regular  allowances,  according  to 
the  rules  which  have  heretofore  governed  the  Department, 
exceed  the  estimate  of  its  late  Secretary  by  about  $50,000, 
for  which  an  appropriation  is  asked. 

Your  particular  attention  is  requested  to  that  part  of 
the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  which  relates  to  the 
money  held  in  trust  for  the  Seneca  tribe  of  Indians.  It  will 
be  perceived  that  without  legislative  aid  the  Executive  can 
not  obviate  the  embarrassments  occasioned  by  the  dimi- 
nution of  the  dividends  on  that  fund,  which  originally 
amounted  to  $100,000,  and  has  recently  been  invested  in 
United  States  3  per  cent  stock. 

The  condition  and  ulterior  destiny  of  the  Indian  tribes 
within  the  limits  of  some  of  our  States  have  become  objects 
of  much  interest  and  importance.  It  has  long  been  the 
policy  of  Government  to  introduce  among  them  the  arts  of 
civilization,  in  the  hope  of  gradually  reclaiming  them  from 
a  wandering  life.  This  policy  has,  however,  been  coupled 
with  another  wholly  incompatible  with  its  success.  Pro- 
fessing a  desire  to  civilize  and  settle  them,  we  have  at  the 
same  time  lost  no  opportunity  to  purchase  their  lands  and 
thrust  them  farther  into  the  wilderness.  By  this  means 
they  have  not  only  been  kept  in  a  wandering  state,  but  been 
led  to  look  upon  us  as  unjust  and  indifferent  to  their  fate. 
Thus,  though  lavish  in  its  expenditures  upon  the  subject, 
Government  has  constantly  defeated  its  own  policy,  and  the 
Indians  in  general,  receding  farther  and  farther  to  the  west, 
have  retained  their  savage  habits.  A  portion,  however,  of 
the  Southern  tribes,  having  mingled  much  with  the  whites 
and  made  some  progress  in  the  arts  of  civilized  life,  have 
lately  attempted  to  erect  an  independent  government  within 


First  Annual  Message  S7 

the  limits  of  Georgia  and  Alabama.  These  States,  claim- 
ing to  be  the  only  sovereigns  within  their  territories, 
extended  their  laws  over  the  Indians,  which  induced  the 
latter  to  call  upon  the  United  States  for  protection. 

Under  these  circumstances  the  question  presented  was 
whether  the  General  Government  had  a  right  to  sustain 
those  people  in  their  pretensions.  The  Constitution  declares 
that  "  no  new  State  shall  be  formed  or  erected  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  any  other  State  "  without  the  consent  of  its 
legislature.  If  the  General  Government  is  not  permitted 
to  tolerate  the  erection  of  a  confederate  State  within  the 
territory  of  one  of  the  members  of  this  Union  against  her 
consent,  much  less  could  it  allow  a  foreign  and  independ- 
ent government  to  establish  itself  there.  Georgia  became 
a  member  of  the  Confederacy  which  eventuated  in  our  Fed- 
eral Union  as  a  sovereign  State,  always  asserting  her 
claim  to  certain  limits,  which,  having  been  originally  defined 
in  her  colonial  charter  and  subsequently  recognized  in  the 
treaty  of  peace,  she  has  ever  since  continued  to  enjoy, 
except  as  they  have  been  circumscribed  by  her  own  volun- 
tary transfer  of  a  portion  of  her  territory  to  the  United 
States  in  the  articles  of  cession  of  1802.  Alabama  was 
admitted  into  the  Union  on  the  same  footing  with  the 
original  States,  with  boundaries  which  were  prescribed  by 
Congress.  There  is  no  constitutional,  conventional,  or 
legal  provision  which  allows  them  less  power  over  the  In- 
dians within  their  borders  than  is  possessed  by  Maine  or 
New  York.  Would  the  people  of  Maine  permit  the  Penob- 
scot tribe  to  erect  an  independent  government  within  their 
State?  And  unless  they  did  would  it  not  be  the  duty  of 
the  General  Government  to  support  them  in  resisting  such  a 
measure  ?  Would  the  people  of  New  York  permit  each  rem- 
nant of  the  Six  Nations  within  her  borders  to  declare  itself 
an  independent  people  under  the  protection  of  the  United 
States?  Could  the  Indians  establish  a  separate  republic  on 
each  of  their  reservations  in  Ohio?  And  if  they  were  so 
disposed  would  it  be  the  duty  of  this  Government  to  pro- 
tect them  in  the  attempt?    If  the  principle  involved  in  the 


5^  Andrew  Jackson 

obvious  answer  to  these  questions  be  abandoned,  it  will 
follow  that  the  objects  of  this  Government  are  reversed, 
and  that  it  has  become  a  part  of  its  duty  to  aid  in  destroy- 
ing the  States  which  it  was  established  to  protect. 

Actuated  by  this  view  of  the  subject,  I  informed  the 
Indians  inhabiting  parts  of  Georgia  and  Alabama  that  their 
attempt  to  establish  an  independent  government  would  not 
be  countenanced  by  the  Executive  of  the  United  States,  and 
advised  them  to  emigrate  beyond  the  Mississippi  or  sub- 
mit to  the  laws  of  those  States. 

Our  conduct  toward  these  people  is  deeply  interesting  to 
our  national  character.  Their  present  condition,  contrasted 
with  what  they  once  were,  makes  a  most  powerful  appeal 
to  our  sympathies.  Our  ancestors  found  them  the  uncon- 
trolled possessors  of  these  vast  regions.  By  persuasion  and 
force  they  have  been  made  to  retire  from  river  to  river  and 
from  mountain  to  mountain,  until  some  of  the  tribes  have 
become  extinct  and  others  have  left  but  remnants  to  pre- 
serve for  a  while  their  once  terrible  names.  Surrounded  by 
whites  with  their  arts  of  civilization,  which  by  destroying 
the  resources  of  the  savage  doom  him  to  weakness  and 
decay,  the  fate  of  the  Mohegan,  the  Narragansett,  and  the 
Delaware  is  fast  overtaking  the  Choctaw,  the  Cherokee,  and 
the  Creek.  That  this  fate  surely  awaits  them  if  they  remain 
within  the  limits  of  the  States  does  not  admit  a  doubt. 
Humanity  and  national  honor  demand  that  every  effort 
should  be  made  to  avert  so  great  a  calamity.  It  is  too 
late  to  inquire  whether  it  was  just  in  the  United  States  to 
include  them  and  their  territory  within  the  bounds  of  new 
States,  whose  limits  they  could  control.  That  step  can  not 
be  retraced.  A  State  can  not  be  dismembered  by  Congress 
or  restricted  in  the  exercise  of  her  constitutional  power. 
But  the  people  of  those  States  and  of  every  State,  actuated 
by  feelings  of  justice  and  a  regard  for  our  national  honor, 
submit  to  you  the  interesting  question  whether  something 
can  not  be  done,  consistently  with  the  rights  of  the  States, 
to  preserve  this  much-injured  race. 

As  a  means  of  effecting  this  end  I  suggest  for  your  con- 


First   Annual   Message  59 

sideration  the  propriety  of  setting  apart  an  ample  district 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  without  the  hmits  of  any 
State  or  Territory  now  formed,  to  be  guaranteed  to  the 
Indian  tribes  as  long  as  they  shall  occupy  it,  each  tribe  hav- 
ing a  distinct  control  over  the  portion  designated  for  its 
use.  There  they  may  be  secured  in  the  enjoyment  of  gov- 
ernments of  their  own  choice,  subject  to  no  other  control 
from  the  United  States  than  such  as  may  be  necessary  to 
preserve  peace  on  the  frontier  and  between  the  several 
tribes.  There  the  benevolent  may  endeavor  to  teach  them 
the  arts  of  civilization,  and,  by  promoting  union  and  har- 
mony among  them,  to  raise  up  an  interesting  common- 
wealth, destined  to  perpetuate  the  race  and  to  attest  the 
humanity  and  justice  of  this  Government. 

This  emigration  should  be  voluntary,  for  it  would  be  as 
cruel  as  unjust  to  compel  the  aborigines  to  abandon  the 
graves  of  their  fathers  and  seek  a  home  in  a  distant  land. 
But  they  should  be  distinctly  informed  that  if  they  remain 
within  the  limits  of  the  States  they  must  be  subject  to  their 
laws.  In  return  for  their  obedience  as  individuals  they  will 
without  doubt  be  protected  in  the  enjoyment  of  those  pos- 
sessions which  they  have  improved  by  their  industry.  But 
it  seems  to  me  visionary  to  suppose  that  in  this  state  of 
things  claims  can  be  allowed  on  tracts  of  country  on  w^hich 
they  have  neither  dwelt  nor  made  improvements,  merely 
because  they  have  seen  them  from  the  mountain  or  passed 
them  in  the  chase.  Submitting  to  the  laws  of  the  States, 
and  receiving,  like  other  citizens,  protection  in  their  per- 
sons and  property,  they  will  ere  long  become  merged  in  the 
mass  of  our  population. 

The  accompanying  report  of  the  Secretary  "of  the  Navy 
will  make  you  acquainted  with  the  condition  and  useful 
employment  of  that  branch  of  our  service  during  the  pres- 
ent year.  Constituting  as  it  does  the  best  standing  security 
of  this  country  against  foreign  aggression,  it  claims  the 
especial  attention  of  Government.  In  this  spirit  the  meas- 
ures which  since  the  termination  of  the  last  war  have  been 
in  operation  for  its  gradual  enlargement  were  adopted,  and 


6o  Andrew  Jackson 

it  should  continue  to  be  cherished  as  the  offspring  of  our 
national  experience.  It  will  be  seen,  however,  that  not- 
withstanding the  great  solicitude  which  has  been  manifested 
for  the  perfect  organization  of  this  arm  and  the  liberality 
of  the  appropriations  which  that  solicitude  has  suggested, 
this  object  has  in  many  important  respects  not  been  secured. 
In  time  of  peace  we  have  need  of  no  more  ships  of  war 
than  are  requisite  to  the  protection  of  our  commerce. 
Those  not  wanted  for  this  object  must  lay  in  the  harbors, 
where  without  proper  covering  they  rapidly  decay,  and 
even  under  the  best  precautions  for  their  preservation  must 
soon  become  useless.  Such  is  already  the  case  with  many 
of  our  finest  vessels,  which,  though  unfinished,  will  now 
require  immense  sums  of  money  to  be  restored  to  the  con- 
dition in  which  they  were  when  committed  to  their  proper 
element.  On  this  subject  there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that 
our  best  policy  would  be  to  discontinue  the  building  of 
ships  of  the  first  and  second  class,  and  look  rather  to  the 
possession  of  ample  materials,  prepared  for  the  emergencies 
of  war,  than  to  the  number  of  vessels  which  we  can  float  in  a 
season  of  peace,  as  the  index  of  our  naval  power.  Judicious 
deposits  in  navy-yards  of  timber  and  other  materials,  fash- 
ioned under  the  hands  of  skillful  workmen  and  fitted  for 
prompt  application  to  their  various  purposes,  would  enable 
us  at  all  times  to  construct  vessels  as  fast  as  they  can  be 
manned,  and  save  the  heavy  expense  of  repairs,  except  to 
such  vessels  as  must  be  employed  in  guarding  our  com- 
merce. The  proper  points  for  the  establishment  of  these 
yards  are  indicated  with  so  much  force  in  the  report  of  the 
Navy  Board  that  in  recommending  it  to  your  attention  I 
deem  it  unnecessary  to  do  more  than  express  my  hearty  con- 
currence in  their  views.  The  yard  in  this  District,  being 
already  furnished  with  most  of  the  machinery  necessary  for 
shipbuilding,  will  be  competent  to  the  supply  of  the  two 
selected  by  the  Board  as  the  best  for  the  concentration  of 
materials,  and,  from  the  facility  and  certainty  of  communi- 
cation between  them,  it  will  be  useless  to  incur  at  those 
depots   the  expense  of  similar  machinery,   especially   that 


First  Annual  Message  6i 

used  in  preparing  the  usual  metallic  and  wooden  furniture 
of  vessels. 

Another  improvement  would  be  effected  by  dispensing 
altogether  with  the  Navy  Board  as  now  constituted,  and 
substituting  in  its  stead  bureaus  similar  to  those  already 
existing  in  the  War  Department.  Each  member  of  the 
Board,  transferred  to  the  head  of  a  separate  bureau  charged 
with  specific  duties,  would  feel  in  its  highest  degree  that 
wholesome  responsibility  which  can  not  be  divided  without 
a  far  more  than  proportionate  diminution  of  its  force. 
Their  valuable  services  would  become  still  more  so  when 
separately  appropriated  to  distinct  portions  of  the  great 
interests  of  the  Navy,  to  the  prosperity  of  which  each 
would  be  impelled  to  devote  himself  by  the  strongest 
motives.  Under  such  an  arrangement  every  branch  of 
this  important  service  would  assume  a  more  simple  and 
precise  character,  its  efficiency  would  be  increased,  and 
scrupulous  economy  in  the  expenditure  of  public  money 
promoted. 

I  would  also  recommend  that  the  Marine  Corps  be 
merged  in  the  artillery  or  infantry,  as  the  best  mode  of  cur- 
ing the  many  defects  in  its  organization.  But  little  exceed- 
ing in  number  any  of  the  regiments  of  infantry,  that  corps 
has,  besides  it  lieuteant-colonel  commandant,  five  brevet 
lieutenant-colonels,  who  receive  the  full  pay  and  emolu- 
ments of  their  brevet  rank,  without  rendering  proportionate 
service.  Details  for  marine  service  could  as  well  be  made 
from  the  artillery  or  infantry,  there  being  no  peculiar  train- 
ing requisite  for  it. 

With  these  improvements,  and  such  others  as  zealous 
watchfulness  and  mature  consideration  may  suggest,  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  under  an  energetic  administration 
of  its  affairs  the  Navy  may  soon  be  made  everything  that 
the  nation  wishes  it  to  be.  Its  efficiency  in  the  suppression 
of  piracy  in  the  West  India  seas,  and  wherever  its  squad- 
rons have  been  employed  in  securing  the  interests  of  the 
country,  will  appear  from  the  report  of  the  Secretary,  to 
which  I  refer  you  for  other  interesting  details.     Among 


62  Andrew   Jackson 

these  I  would  bespeak  the  attention  of  Congress  for  the 
views  presented  in  relation  to  the  inequality  between  the 
Army  and  Navy  as  to  the  pay  of  officers.  No  such  in- 
equality should  prevail  between  these  brave  defenders  of 
their  country,  and  where  it  does  exist  it  is  submitted  to 
Congress  whether  it  ought  not  to  be  rectified. 

The  report  of  the  Postmaster-General  is  referred  to  as 
exhibiting  a  highly  satisfactory  administration  of  that  De- 
partment. Abuses  have  been  reformed,  increased  expedi- 
tion in  the  transportation  of  the  mail  secured,  and  its  rev- 
enue much  improved.  In  a  political  point  of  view  this 
Department  is  chiefly  important  as  affording  the  means  of 
diffusing  knowledge.  It  is  to  the  body  politic  wdiat  the 
veins  and  arteries  are  to  the  natural — conveying  rapidly 
and  regularly  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  system  correct 
information  of  the  operations  of  the  Government,  and 
bringing  back  to  it  the  wishes  and  feelings  of  the  people. 
Through  its  agency  we  have  secured  to  ourselves  the  full 
enjoyment  of  the  blessings  of  a  free  press. 

In  this  general  survey  of  our  affairs  a  subject  of  high 
importance  presents  itself  in  the  present  organization  of  the 
judiciary.  An  uniform  operation  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment in  the  different  States  is  certainly  desirable,  and  exist- 
ing as  they  do  in  the  Union  on  the  basis  of  perfect  equality, 
each  State  has  a  right  to  expect  that  the  benefits  conferred 
on  the  citizens  of  others  should  be  extended  to  hers.  The 
judicial  system  of  the  United  States  exists  in  all  its  effi- 
ciency in  only  fifteen  members  of  the  Union ;  to  three  others 
the  circuit  courts,  w'hich  constitute  an  important  part  of 
that  system,  have  been  imperfectly  extended,  and  to  the 
remaining  six  altogether  denied.  The  effect  has  been  to 
withhold  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  latter  the  advantages 
afforded  (by  the  Supreme  Court)  to  their  fellow-citizens  in 
other  States  in  the  whole  extent  of  the  criminal  and  much 
of  the  civil  authority  of  the  Federal  judiciary.  That  this 
state  of  things  ought  to  be  remedied,  if  it  can  be  done  con- 
sistently with  the  public  welfare,  is  not  to  be  doubted. 
Neither  is  it  to  be  disguised  that  the  organization  of  our  ju- 


First  Annual  Message  63 

dicial  system  is  at  once  a  difficult  and  delicate  task.  To 
extend  the  circuit  courts  equally  throughout  the  different 
parts  of  the  Union,  and  at  the  same  time  to  avoid  such  a 
multiplication  of  members  as  would  encumber  the  supreme 
appellate  tribunal,  is  the  object  desired.  Perhaps  it  might 
be  accomplished  by  dividing  the  circuit  judges  into  two 
classes,  and  providing  that  the  Supreme  Court  should  be 
held  by  these  classes  alternately,  the  Chief  Justice  always 
presiding. 

If  an  extension  of  the  circuit-court  system  to  those  States 
which  do  not  now  enjoy  its  benefits  should  be  determined 
upon,  it  would  of  course  be  necessary  to  revise  the  present 
arrangement  of  the  circuits ;  and  even  if  that  system  should 
not  be  enlarged,  such  a  revision  is  recommended. 

A  provision  for  taking  the  census  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  will^  to  insure  the  completion  of  that  work 
within  a  convenient  time,  claim  the  early  attention  of  Con- 
gress. 

The  great  and  constant  increase  of  business  in  the  De- 
partment of  State  forced  itself  at  an  early  period  upon  the 
attention  of  the  Executive.  Thirteen  years  ago  it  was,  in 
Mr.  Madison's  last  message  to  Congress,  made  the  subject 
of  an  earnest  recommendation,  which  has  been  repeated  by 
both  of  his  successors ;  and  my  comparatively  limited  experi- 
ence has  satisfied  me  of  its  justness.  It  has  arisen  from 
many  causes,  not  the  least  of  which  is  the  large  addition 
that  has  been  made  to  the  family  of  independent  nations 
and  the  proportionate  extension  of  our  foreign  relations. 
The  remedy  proposed  was  the  establishment  of  a  home  de- 
partment— a  measure  which  does  not  appear  to  have  met 
the  views  of  Congress  on  account  of  its  supposed  tendency 
to  increase,  gradually  and  imperceptibly,  the  already  too 
strong  bias  of  the  federal  system  toward  the  exercise  of 
authority  not  delegated  to  it.  I  am  not,  therefore,  dis- 
posed to  revive  the  recommendation,  but  am  not  the  less 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  so  organizing  that  De- 
partment that  its  Secretary  may  devote  more  of  his  time 
to  our  foreign  relations.     Clearly  satisfied  that  the  public 


64  Andrew   Jackson 

good  would  be  promoted  by  some  suitable  provision  on  the 
subject,  I  respectfully  invite  your  attention  to  it. 

The  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  expires  in 
1836,  and  its  stockholders  will  most  probably  apply  for  a 
renewal  of  their  privileges.  In  order  to  avoid  the  evils  re- 
sulting from  precipitancy  in  a  measure  involving  such  im- 
portant principles  and  such  deep  pecuniary  interests,  I  feel 
that  I  can  not,  in  justice  to  the  parties  interested,  too  soon 
present  it  to  the  deliberate  consideration  of  the  Legislature 
and  the  people.  Both  the  constitutionality  and  the  expe- 
diency of  the  law  creating  this  bank  are  well  questioned  by 
a  large  portion  of  our  fellow-citizens,  and  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted by  all  that  it  has  failed  in  the  great  end  of  establish- 
ing a  uniform  and  sound  currency. 

Under  these  circumstances,  if  such  an  institution  is 
deemed  essential  to  the  fiscal  operations  of  the  Government, 
I  submit  to  the  wisdom  of  the  Legislature  whether  a  na- 
tional one,  founded  upon  credit  of  the  Government  and  its 
revenues,  might  not  be  devised  which  would  avoid  all  con- 
stitutional difficulties  and  at  the  same  time  secure  all  the 
advantages  to  the  Government  and  country  that  were  ex- 
pected to  result  from  the  present  bank. 

I  can  not  close  this  communication  without  bringing  to 
your  view  the  just  claim  of  the  representatives  of  Com- 
modore Decatur,  his  officers  and  crew,  arising  from  the 
recapture  of  the  frigate  Philadelphia  under  the  heavy  bat- 
teries of  Tripoli.  Although  sensible,  as  a  general  rule,  of 
the  impropriety  of  Executive  interference  under  a  Govern- 
ment like  ours,  where  every  individual  enjoys  the  right  of 
directly  petitioning  Congress,  yet,  viewing  this  case  as  one 
of  very  peculiar  character,  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  recommend 
it  to  your  favorable  consideration.  Besides  the  justice  of 
this  claim,  as  corresponding  to  those  which  have  been  since 
recognized  and  satisfied,  it  is  the  fruit  of  a  deed  of  patriotic 
and  chivalrous  daring  which  infused  life  and  confidence 
into  our  infant  Navy  and  contributed  as  much  as  any  ex- 
ploit in  its  history  to  elevate  our  national  character.  Pub- 
lic gratitude,  therefore,  stamps  her  seal  upon  it,  and  the 


First  Annual  Message  65 

meed  should  not  be  withheld  which  may  hereafter  operate 
as  a  stimulus  to  our  gallant  tars. 

I  now  recommend  you,  fellow-citizens,  to  the  guidance  of 
Almighty  God,  with  a  full  reliance  on  His  merciful  provi- 
dence for  the  maintenance  of  our  free  institutions,  and  with 
an  earnest  supplication  that  whatever  errors  it  rnay  be  my 
lot  to  commit  in  discharging  the  arduous  duties  which  have 
devolved  on  me  will  find  a  remedy  in  the  harmony  and 
wisdom  of  your  counsels. 


Veto  Messages.* 

(May  27,  1830.) 

To  the  House  of  Representatives,  Gentlemen:  I  have 
maturely  considered  the  bill  proposing  to  authorize  "  a  sub- 
scription of  stock  in  the  Maysville,  Washington,  Paris,  and 
Lexington  Turnpike  Road  Company,"  and  now  return  the 
same  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  which  it  origi- 
nated, with  my  objections  to  its  passage. 

Sincerely  fr'.endly  to  the  improvement  of  our  country  by 
means  of  roads  and  canals,  I  regret  that  any  difference  of 
opinion  in  the  mode  of  contributing  to  it  should  exist  be- 
tween us;  and  if  in  stating  this  difference  I  go  beyond 
what  the  occasion  may  be  deemed  to  call  for,  I  hope  to  find 
an  apology  in  the  great  importance  of  the  subject,  an  un- 
feigned respect  for  the  high  source  from  which  this  branch 
of  it  has  emanated,  and  an  anxious  wish  to  be  correctly 
understood  by  my  constituents  in  the  discharge  of  all  my 
duties.  Diversity  of  sentiment  among  public  functionaries 
actuated  by  the  same  general  motives,  on  the  character  and 

*  In  this  veto  message  Jackson  repeated  the  constitutional  doc- 
trines of  Madison  and  Monroe  as  laid  down  by  them  in  their  veto 
messages  on  internal  improvements.  (See  Madison's  Veto  Message, 
March  3,  181 7;  Monroe's  Views  on  the  Subject  of  Internal  Improve- 
ments, May  4,  1822.) 

Jackson  struck  at  notorious  abuses  in  this  message  and  curtailed  if 
he  did  not  put  an  end  to  them. 

"Taken  together,"  remarks  Benton,  "the  three  vetoes,  and  the 
three  messages  sustaining  them  (for  in  no  instance  did  the  House  in 
which  they  originated  pass  the  bills,  or  either  of  them,  in  opposition 
to  the  vetoes)  may  be  considered  as  embracing  all  the  constitutional 
reasoning  upon  the  question;  and  enough  to  be  studied  by  any  one 
who  wishes  to  make  himself  master  of  the  subject."  Thirty  Years' 
Vuw,  I.,  p.  167. 

66 


Veto  Messages  67 

tendency  of  particular  measures,  is  an  incident  common  to 
all  Governments,  and  the  more  to  be  expected  in  one  which, 
like  ours,  owes  its  existence  to  the  freedom  of  opinion,  and 
must  be  upheld  by  the  same  influence.  ,  Controlled  as  we 
thus  are  by  a  higher  tribunal,  before  which  our  respective 
acts  will  be  canvassed  with  the  indulgence  due  to  the  im- 
perfections of  our  nature,  and  with  that  intelligence  and  un- 
biased judgment  which  are  the  true  correctives  of  error,  all 
that  our  responsibility  demands  is  that  the  public  good 
should  be  the  measure  of  our  views,  dictating  alike  their 
frank  expression  and  honest  maintenance. 

In  the  message  which  was  presented  to  Congress  at  the 
opening  of  its  present  session  I  endeavored  to  exhibit  briefly 
my  views  upon  the  important  and  highly  interesting  subject 
to  which  our  attention  is  now  to  be  directed.  I  was  desir- 
ous of  presenting  to  the  representatives  of  the  several 
States  in  Congress  assembled  the  inquiry  whether  some 
mode  could  not  be  devised  which  would  reconcile  the  di- 
versity of  opinion  concerning  the  powers  of  this  Govern- 
ment over  the  subject  of  internal  improvement,  and  the 
manner  in  which  these  powers,  if  conferred  by  the  Consti- 
tution, ought  to  be  exercised.  The  act  which  I  am  called 
upon  to  consider  has,  therefore,  been  passed  with  a  knowl- 
edge of  my  views  on  this  question,  as  these  are  expressed  in 
the  message  referred  to.  In  that  document  the  following 
suggestions  will  be  found : 

After  the  extinction  of  the  public  debt  it  is  not  probable 
that  any  adjustment  of  the  tariff  upon  principles  satisfactory 
to  the  people  of  the  Union  will  until  a  remote  period,  if  ever, 
leave  the  Government  without  a  considerable  surplus  in  the 
Treasury  beyond  what  may  be  required  for  its  current 
service.  As,  then,  the  period  approaches  when  the  applica- 
tion of  the  revenue  to  the  payment  of  debt  will  cease,  the 
disposition  of  the  surplus  will  present  a  subject  for  the 
serious  deliberation  of  Congress;  and  it  may  be  fortunate 
for  the  country  that  it  is  yet  to  be  decided.  Considered  in 
connection  with  the  difficulties  which  have  heretofore  at- 
tended appropriations  for  purposes  of  internal  improvement, 


68  Andrew  Jackson 

and  with  those  which  this  experience  tells  us  will  certainly 
arise  whenever  power  over  such  subjects  may  be  exercised 
by  the  General  Government,  it  is  hoped  that  it  may  lead  to 
the  adoption  of  some  plan  which  will  reconcile  the  diversi- 
fied interests  of  the  States  and  strengthen  the  bonds  which 
unite  them.  Every  member  of  the  Union,  in  peace  and  in 
war,  will  be  benefited  by  the  improvement  of  inland  navi- 
gation and  the  construction  of  highways  in  the  several 
States.  Let  us,  then,  endeavor  to  attain  this  benefit  in  a 
mode  which  will  be  satisfactory  to  all.  That  hitherto 
adopted  has  by  many  of  our  fellow-citizens  been  deprecated 
as  an  infraction  of  the  Constitution,  while  by  others  it  has 
been  viewed  as  inexpedient.  All  feel  that  it  has  been  em- 
ployed at  the  expense  of  harmony  in  the  legislative  councils. 

And  adverting  to  the  constitutional  power  of  Congress  to 
make  what  I  considered  a  proper  disposition  of  the  surplus 
revenue,  I  subjoined  the  following  remarks : 

To  avoid  these  evils  it  appears  to  me  that  the  most  safe, 
just,  and  federal  disposition  which  could  be  made  of  the 
surplus  revenue  would  be  its  apportionment  among  the  sev- 
eral States  according  to  their  ratio  of  representation,  and 
should  this  measure  not  be  found  warranted  by  the  Consti- 
tution that  it  would  be  expedient  to  propose  to  the  States  an 
amendment  authorizing  it. 

The  constitutional  power  of  the  Federal  Government  to 
construct  or  promote  works  of  internal  improvement  pre- 
sents itself  in  two  points  of  view — the  first  as  bearing  upon 
the  sovereignty  of  the  States  within  whose  limits  their  exe- 
cution is  contemplated,  if  jurisdiction  of  the  territory  which 
they  may  occupy  be  claimed  as  necessary  to  their  preserva- 
tion and  use ;  the  second  as  asserting  the  simple  right  to  ap- 
propriate money  from  the  National  Treasury  in  aid  of  such 
works  when  undertaken  by  State  authority,  surrendering 
the  claim  of  jurisdiction.  In  the  first  view  the  question  of 
power  is  an  open  one,  and  can  be  decided  without  the  em- 
barrassments attending  the  other,  arising  from  the  practice 
of  the  Government.     Although  frequently  and  strenuously 


Veto  Messages  69 

attempted,  the  power  to  this  extent  has  never  been  exer- 
cised by  the  Government  in  a  single  instance.  It  does  not, 
in  my  opinion,  possess  it;  and  no  bill,  therefore,  which  ad- 
mits it  can  receive  my  official  sanction. 

But  in  the  other  view  of  the  power  the  question  is  dif- 
ferently situated.  The  ground  taken  at  an  early  period  of 
the  Government  was  "  that  whenever  money  has  been  raised 
by  the  general  authority  and  is  to  be  applied  to  a  particular 
measure,  a  question  arises  whether  the  particular  measure 
be  within  the  enumerated  authorities  vested  in  Congress. 
If  it  be,  the  money  requisite  for  it  may  be  applied  to  it ;  if 
not,  no  such  application  can  be  made."  The  document  in 
which  this  principle  was  first  advanced  is  of  deservedly  high 
authority,  and  should  be  held  in  grateful  remembrance  for 
its  immediate  agency  in  rescuing  the  country  from  much 
existing  abuse  and  for  its  conservative  effect  upon  some  of 
the  most  valuable  principles  of  the  Constitution.  The  sym- 
metry and  purity  of  the  Government  would  doubtless  have 
been  better  preserved  if  this  restriction  of  the  power  of  ap- 
propriation could  have  been  maintained  without  weakening 
its  ability  to  fulfill  the  general  objects  of  its  institution,  an 
effect  so  likely  to  attend  its  admission,  notwithstanding  its 
apparent  fitness,  that  every  subsequent  Administration  of 
the  Government,  embracing  a  period  of  thirty  out  of  the 
forty-two  years  of  its  existence,  has  adopted  a  more  en- 
larged construction  of  the  power.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to 
detain  you  by  a  minute  recital  of  the  acts  which  sustain  this 
assertion,  but  it  is  proper  that  I  should  notice  some  of  the 
most  prominent  in  order  that  the  reflections  which  they 
suggest  to  my  mind  may  be  better  understood. 

In  the  Administration  of  Mr.  Jefferson  we  have  two  ex- 
amples of  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  appropriation,  which 
in  the  considerations  that  led  to  their  adoption  and  in  their 
effects  upon  the  public  mind  have  had  a  greater  agency  in 
marking  the  character  of  the  power  than  any  subsequent 
events.  I  allude  to  the  payment  of  $15,000,000  for  the  pur- 
chase of  Louisiana  and  to  the  original  appropriation  for 
the  construction  of  the  Cumberland  road,  the  latter  act  de- 


JO  Andrew  Jackson 

riving  much  weight  from  the  acquiescence  and  approbation 
of  three  of  the  most  powerful  of  the  original  members  of 
the  Confederacy,  expressed  through  their  respective  legis- 
latures. Although  the  circumstances  of  the  latter  case  may 
be  such  as  to  deprive  so  much  of  it  as  relates  to  the  actual 
construction  of  the  road  of  the  force  of  an  obligatory  ex- 
position of  the  Constitution,  it  must,  nevertheless,  be  ad- 
mitted that  so  far  as  the  mere  appropriation  of  money  is 
concerned  they  present  the  principle  in  its  most  imposing 
aspect.  No  less  than  twenty-three  different  laws  have  been 
passed,  through  all  the  forms  of  the  Constitution,  appropri- 
ating upward  of  $2,500,000  out  of  the  National  Treasury 
in  support  of  that  improvement,  with  the  approbation  of 
every  President  of  the  United  States,  including  my  prede- 
cessor, since  its  commencement. 

Independently  of  the  sanction  given  to  appropriations  for 
the  Cumberland  and  other  roads  and  objects  under  this 
power,  the  Administration  of  Mr.  Madison  was  character- 
ized by  an  act  which  furnishes  the  strongest  evidence  of 
his  opinion  of  its  extent.  A  bill  was  passed  through  both 
Houses  of  Congress  and  presented  for  his  approval,  "  set- 
ting apart  and  pledging  certain  funds  for  constructing  roads 
and  canals  and  improving  the  navigation  of  water  courses, 
in  order  to  facilitate,  promote,  and  give  security  to  internal 
commerce  among  the  several  States  and  to  render  more 
easy  and  less  expensive  the  means  and  provisions  for  the 
common  defense."  Regarding  the  bill  as  asserting  a  power 
in  the  Federal  Government  to  construct  roads  and  canals 
within  the  limits  of  the  States  in  which  they  were  made,  he 
objected  to  its  passage  on  the  ground  of  its  unconstitu- 
tionality, declaring  that  the  assent  of  the  respective  States 
in  the  mode  provided  by  the  bill  could  not  confer  the  power 
in  question;  that  the  only  cases  in  which  the  consent  and 
cession  of  particular  States  can  extend  the  power  of  Con- 
gress are  those  specified  and  provided  for  in  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  superadding  to  these  avowals  his  opinion  that  "  a 
restriction  of  the  power  '  to  provide  for  the  common  de- 
fense and  general  welfare  '  to  cases  which  are  to  be  pro- 


Veto  Messages  7^ 

vided  for  by  the  expenditure  of  money  would  still  leave 
within  the  legislative  power  of  Congress  all  the  great  and 
most  important  measures  of  Government,  money  being  the 
ordinary  and  necessary  means  of  carrying  them  into  exe- 
cution." I  have  not  been  able  to  consider  these  declarations 
in  any  other  point  of  view  than  as  a  concession  that  the 
right  of  appropriation  is  not  limited  by  the  power  to  carry 
into  effect  the  measure  for  which  the  money  is  asked,  as 
was  formerly  contended. 

The  views  of  Mr.  Monroe  upon  this  subject  were  not  left 
to  inference.  During  his  Administration  a  bill  was  passed 
through  both  Houses  of  Congress  conferring  the  jurisdic- 
tion and  prescribing  the  mode  by  which  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment should  exercise  it  in  the  case  of  the  Cumberland 
road.  He  returned  it  with  objections  to  its  passage,  and  in 
assigning  them  took  occasion  to  say  that  in  the  early  stages 
of  the  Government  he  had  inclined  to  the  construction  that 
it  had  no  right  to  expend  money  except  in  the  performance 
of  acts  authorized  by  the  other  specific  grants  of  power,  ac- 
cording to  a  strict  construction  of  them,  but  that  on  further 
reflection  and  observation  his  mind  had  undergone  a 
change ;  that  his  opinion  then  was  "  that  Congress  have  an 
unlimited  power  to  raise  money,  and  that  in  its  appropria- 
tion they  have  a  discretionary  power,  restricted  only  by  the 
duty  to  appropriate  it  to  purposes  of  common  defense,  and 
of  general,  not  local,  national,  not  State,  benefit ;"  and  this  ^ 
was  avowed  to  be  the  governing  principle  through  the  resi- 
due of  his  Administration.  The  views  of  the  last  Admin- 
istration are  of  such  recent  date  as  to  render  a  particular 
reference  to  them  unnecessary.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
appropriating  power,  to  the  utmost  extent  which  had  been 
claimed  for  it,  in  relation  to  internal  improvements  was 
fully  recognized  and  exercised  by  it. 

This  brief  reference  to  known  facts  will  be  sufficient  to 
show  the  difficulty,  if  not  the  impracticability,  of  bringing 
back  the  operations  of  the  Government  to  the  construction 
of  the  Constitution  set  up  in  1798,  assuming  that  to  be 
its  true  reading  in  relation  to  the  power  under  considera- 


72  Andrew  Jackson 


tion,  thus  giving  an  admonitory  proof  of  the  force  of  im- 
pUcation  and  the  necessity  of  guarding  the  Constitution 
with  sleepless  vigilance  against  the  authority  of  precedents 
which  have  not  the  sanction  of  its  most  plainly  defined  pow- 
ers ;  for  although  it  is  the  duty  of  all  to  look  to  that  sacred 
instrument  instead  of  the  statute  book,  to  repudiate  at  all 
times  encroachments  upon  its  spirit,  which  are  too  apt  to 
be  effected  by  the  conjuncture  of  peculiar  and  facilitating 
circumstances,  it  is  not  less  true  that  the  public  good  and 
the  nature  of  our  political  institutions  require  that  indi- 
vidual differences  should  yield  to  a  well-settled  acqui- 
escence of  the  people  and  confederated  authorities  in  par- 
ticular constructions  of  the  Constitution  on  doubtful  points. 
Not  to  concede  this  much  to  the  spirit  of  our  institutions 
would  impair  their  stability  and  defeat  the  objects  of  the 
Constitution  itself. 

The  bill  before  me  does  not  call  for  a  more  definite  opin- 
ion upon  the  particular  circumstances  which  will  warrant 
appropriations  of  money  by  Congress  to  aid  works  of  in- 
ternal improvement,  for  although  the  extension  of  the 
power  to  apply  money  beyond  that  of  carrying  into  effect 
the  object  for  which  it  is  appropriated  has,  as  we  have 
seen,  been  long  claimed  and  exercised  by  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment, yet  such  grants  have  always  been  professedly 
under  the  control  of  the  general  principle  that  the  works 
which  might  be  thus  aided  should  be  "  of  a  general,  not 
local,  national,  not  State,"  character.  A  disregard  of  this 
y  distinction  would  of  necessity  lead  to  the  subversion  of  the 
federal  system.  That  even  this  is  an  unsafe  one,  arbitrary 
in  its  nature,  and  liable,  consequently,  to  great  abuses,  is 
too  obvious  to  require  the  confirmation  of  experience.  It 
is,  however,  sufficiently  definite  and  imperative  to  my  mind 
to  forbid  my  approbation  of  any  bill  having  the  character  of 
the  one  under  consideration.  I  have  given  to  its  provisions 
all  the  reflection  demanded  by  a  just  regard  for  the  interests 
of  those  of  our  fellow-citizens  who  have  desired  its  pas- 
sage, and  by  the  respect  which  is  due  to  a  coordinate  branch 
of  the  Government,  but  I  am  not  able  to  view  it  in  any 


Veto  Messages  73 

other  light  than  as  a  measure  of  purely  local  character ;  or, 
if  it  can  be  considered  national,  that  no  further  distinction 
between  the  appropriate  duties  of  the  General  and  State 
Governments  need  be  attempted,  for  there  can  be  no  local 
interest  that  may  not  with  equal  propriety  be  denominated 
national.  It  has  no  connection  with  any  established  system 
of  improvemets;  is  exclusively  within  the  limits  of  a  State, 
starting  at  a  point  on  the  Ohio  River  and  running  out  60 
miles  to  an  interior  town,  and  even  as  far  as  the  State  is 
interested  conferring  partial  instead  of  general  advantages. 

Considering  the  magnitude  and  importance  of  the  power, 
and  the  embarrassments  to  which,  from  the  very  nature  of 
the  thing,  its  exercise  must  necessarily  be  subjected,  the 
real  friends  of  internal  improvement  ought  not  to  be  will- 
ing to  confide  it  to  accident  and  chance.  What  is  properly 
national  in  its  character  or  otherwise  is  an  inquiry  which  is 
often  extremely  difficult  of  solution.  The  appropriations  of 
one  year  for  an  object  which  is  considered  national  may  be 
rendered  nugatory  by  the  refusal  of  a  succeeding  Congress 
to  continue  the  work  on  the  ground  that  it  is  local.  No  aid 
can  be  derived  from  the  intervention  of  corporations.  The 
question  regards  the  character  of  the  work,  not  that  of  those 
by  whom  it  is  to  be  accomplished.  Notwithstanding  the 
union  of  the  Government  with  the  corporation  by  whose 
immediate  agency  any  work  of  internal  improvement  is  car- 
ried on,  the  inquiry  will  still  remain.  Is  it  national  and 
conducive  to  the  benefit  of  the  whole,  or  local  and  operating 
only  to  the  advantage  of  a  portion  of  the  Union? 

But  although  I  might  not  feel  it  to  be  my  official  duty 
to  interpose  the  Executive  veto  to  the  passage  of  a  bill  ap- 
propriating money  for  the  construction  of  such  works  as 
are  authorized  by  the  States  and  are  national  in  their  char- 
acter, I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  expressing  an  opin- 
ion that  it  is  expedient  at  this  time  for  the  General  Gov- 
ernment to  embark  in  a  system  of  this  kind;  and  anxious 
that  my  constituents  should  be  possessed  of  my  views  on 
this  as  well  as  on  all  other  subjects  which  they  have  com- 
mitted  to  my  discretion,   I   shall   state  them    frankly  and 


/ 


74  Andrew  Jackson 

briefly.  Besides  many  minor  considerations,  there  are  two 
prominent  views  of  the  subject  which  have  made  a  deep 
impression  upon  my  mind,  which,  I  think,  are  well  entitled 
to  your  serious  attention,  and  will,  I  hope,  be  maturely 
weighed  by  the  people. 

From  the  official  communication  submitted  to  you  it  ap- 
pears that  if  no  adverse  and  unforeseen  contingency  hap- 
pens in  our  foreign  relations  and  no  unusual  diversion  be 
made  of  the  funds  set  apart  for  the  payment  of  the  na- 
tional debt,  we  may  look  with  confidence  to  its  entire  ex- 
tinguishment in  the  short  period  of  four  years.  The  ex- 
tent to  which  this  pleasing  anticipation  is  dependent  upon 
the  policy  which  may  be  pursued  in  relation  to  measures  of 
the  character  of  the  one  now  under  consideration  must  be 
obvious  to  all,  and  equally  so  that  the  events  of  the  present 
session  are  well  calculated  to  awaken  public  solicitude  upon 
the  subject.  By  the  statement  from  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment and  those  from  the  clerks  of  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives,  herewith  submitted,  it  appears  that  the 
bills  which  have  passed  into  laws,  and  those  which  in  all 
probability  will  pass  before  the  adjournment  of  Congress, 
anticipate  appropriations  which,  with  the  ordinary  expendi- 
tures for  the  support  of  Government,  will  exceed  consider- 
ably the  amount  in  the  Treasury  for  the  year  1830.  Thus, 
whilst  we  are  diminishing  the  revenue  by  a  reduction  of  the 
duties  on  tea,  coflfee,  and  cocoa  the  appropriations  for  in- 
ternal improvements  are  increasing  beyond  the  available 
means  of  the  Treasury.  And  if  to  this  calculation  be 
added  the  amounts  contained  in  bills  which  are  pending  be- 
fore the  two  Houses,  it  may  be  safely  affirmed  that  $10,- 
000,000  would  not  make  up  the  excess  over  the  Treasury 
receipts,  unless  the  payment  of  the  national  debt  be  post- 
poned and  the  means  now  pledged  to  that  object  applied 
to  those  enumerated  in  these  bills.  Without  a  well-regu- 
lated system  of  internal  improvement  this  exhausting  mode 
of  appropriation  is  not  likely  to  be  avoided,  and  the  plain 
conse(|uence  must  be  either  a  continuance  of  the  national 
debt  or  a  resort  to  additional  taxes. 


Veto  Messages  'J^ 

Although  many  of  the  States,  with  a  laudable  zeal  and 
under  the  influence  of  an  enlightened  policy,  are  success- 
fully applying  their  separate  efforts  to  works  of  this  char- 
acter, the  desire  to  enlist  the  aid  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment in  the  construction  of  such  as  from  their  nature  ought 
to  devolve  upon  it,  and  to  which  the  means  of  the  individual 
States  are  inadequate,  is  both  rational  and  patriotic,  and 
if  that  desire  is  not  gratified  now  it  does  not  follow  that  it 
never  will  be.  The  general  intelligence  and  public  spirit  of 
the  American  people  furnish  a  sure  guaranty  that  at  the 
proper  time  this  policy  will  be  made  to  prevail  under  cir- 
cumstances more  auspicious  to  its  successful  prosecution 
than  those  which  now  exist.  But  great  as  this  object  un- 
doubtedly is,  it  is  not  the  only  one  which  demands  the 
fostering  care  of  the  Government.  The  preservation  and 
success  of  the  republican  principle  rests  with  us.  To  ele- 
vate its  character  and  extend  its  influence  rank  among  our 
most  important  duties,  and  the  best  means  to  accomplish 
this  desirable  end  are  those  which  will  rivet  the  attachment 
of  our  citizens  to  the  Government  of  their  choice  by  the 
comparative  lightness  of  their  public  burthens  and  by  the 
attraction  which  the  superior  success  of  its  operations  will 
present  to  the  admiration  and  respect  of  the  world. 
Through  the  favor  of  an  overruling  and  indulgent  Provi- 
dence our  country  is  blessed  with  general  prosperity  and 
our  citizens  exempted  from  the  pressure  of  taxation,  which 
other  less  favored  portions  of  the  human  family  are  obliged 
to  bear ;  yet  it  is  true  that  many  of  the  taxes  collected  from 
our  citizens  through  the  medium  of  imposts  have  for  a 
considerable  period  been  onerous.  In  many  particulars 
these  taxes  have  borne  severely  upon  the  laboring  and  less 
prosperous  classes  of  the  community,  being  imposed  on  the 
necessaries  of  life,  and  this,  too,  in  cases  where  the  burthen 
was  not  relieved  by  the  consciousness  that  it  would  ulti- 
mately contribute  to  make  us  independent  of  foreign  na- 
tions for  articles  of  prime  necessity  by  the  encouragement 
of  their  growth  and  manufacture  at  home.  They  have  been 
cheerfully  borne  because  they  were  thought  to  be  necessary 


76  Andrew  Jackson 

to  the  support  of  Government  and  the  payment  of  the  debts 
unavoidably  incurred  in  the  acquisition  and  maintenance  of 
our  national  rights  and  liberties.  But  have  we  a  right  to 
calculate  on  the  same  cheerful  acquiescence  when  it  is 
known  that  the  necessity  for  their  continuance  would  cease 
were  it  not  for  irregular,  improvident,  and  unequal  appro- 
priations of  the  public  funds  ?  Will  not  the  people  demand, 
as  they  have  a  right  to  do,  such  a  prudent  system  of  ex- 
penditure as  will  pay  the  debts  of  the  Union  and  authorize 
the  reduction  of  every  tax  to  as  low  a  point  as  the  wise  ob- 
servance of  the  necessity  to  protect  that  portion  of  our  man- 
ufactures and  labor  whose  prosperity  is  essential  to  our 
national  safety  and  independence  will  allow  ?  When  the  na- 
tional debt  is  paid,  the  duties  upon  those  articles  which  we 
do  not  raise  may  be  repealed  with  safety,  and  still  leave,  I 
trust,  without  oppression  to  any  section  of  the  country,  an 
•accumulating  surplus  fund,  which  may  be  beneficially  ap- 
plied to  some  well-digested  system  of  improvement. 

Under  this  view  the  question  as  to  the  manner  in  which 
the  Federal  Government  can  or  ought  to  embark  in  the 
construction  of  roads  and  canals,  and  the  extent  to  which  it 
may  impose  burthens  on  the  people  for  these  purposes,  may 
be  presented  on  its  own  merits,  free  of  all  disguise  and  of 
every  embarrassment,  except  such  as  may  arise  from  the 
Constitution  itself.  Assuming  these  suggestions  to  be 
correct,  will  not  our  constituents  require  the  observance  of 
a  course  by  which  they  can  be  effected?  Ought  they  not 
to  require  it?  With  the  best  disposition  to  aid,  as  far  as 
I  can  conscientiously,  in  furtherance  of  works  of  internal 
improvement,  my  opinion  is  that  the  soundest  views  of  na- 
tional policy  at  this  time  point  to  such  a  course.  Besides 
the  avoidance  of  an  evil  influence  upon  the  local  concerns 
of  the  country,  how  solid  is  the  advantage  which  the  Gov- 
ernment will  reap  from  it  in  the  elevation  of  its  character! 
How  gratifying  the  effect  of  presenting  to  the  world  the 
sublime  spectacle  of  a  Republic  of  more  than  12,000,000 
happy  people,  in  the  fifty-fourth  year  of  her  existence, 
after  having  passed  through  two  protracted  wars — the  one 


Veto  Messages  "jj 

for  the  acquisition  and  the  other  for  the  maintenance  of 
Hberty — free  from  debt  and  with  all  her  immense  resources 
unfettered!  What  a  salutary  influence  would  not  such  an 
exhibition  exercise  upon  the  cause  of  liberal  principles  and 
free  government  throughout  the  world!  Would  we  not 
ourselves  find  in  its  effect  an  additional  guaranty  that  our 
political  institutions  will  be  transmitted  to  the  most  remote 
posterity  without  decay?  A  course  of  policy  destined  to 
witness  events  like  those  can  not  be  benefited  by  a  legisla- 
tion which  tolerates  a  scramble  for  appropriations  that  have 
no  relation  to  any  general  system  of  improvement,  and 
whose  good  effects  must  of  necessity  be  very  limited.  In 
the  best  view  of  these  appropriations,  the  abuses  to  which 
they  lead  far  exceed  the  good  which  they  are  capable  of 
promoting.  They  may  be  resorted  to  as  artful  expedients  to 
shift  upon  the  Government  the  losses  of  unsuccessful  pri- 
vate speculation,  and  thus,  by  ministering  to  personal  am.- 
bition  and  self-aggrandizement,  tend  to  sap  the  foundations 
of  public  virtue  and  taint  the  administration  of  the  Govern- 
ment with  a  demoralizing  influence. 

In  the  other  view  of  the  subject,  and  the  only  remaining 
one  which  it  is  my  intention  to  present  at  this  time,  is  in- 
volved the  expediency  of  embarking  in  a  system  of  internal 
improvement  without  a  previous  amendment  of  the  Con- 
stitution explaining  and  defining  the  precise  powers  of  the 
Federal  Government  over  it.  Assuming  the  right  to  ap- 
propriate money  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  national 
works  to  be  warranted  by  the  cotemporaneous  and  con- 
tinued exposition  of  the  Constitution,  its  insufiiciency  for 
the  successful  prosecution  of  them  must  be  admitted  by 
all  candid  minds.  If  we  look  to  usage  to  define  the  extent 
of  the  right,  that  will  be  found  so  variant  and  embracing 
so  much  that  has  been  overruled  as  to  involve  the  whole 
subject  in  great  uncertainty  and  to  render  the  execution  of 
our  respective  duties  in  relation  to  it  replete  with  difliculty 
and  embarrassment.  It  is  in  regard  to  such  works  and  the 
acquisition  of  additional  territory  that  the  practice  ob- 
tained its  first  footing.     In  most,  if  not  all,  other  disputed 


yS  Andrew  Jackson 

questions  of  appropriation  the  construction  of  the  Constitu- 
tion may  be  regarded  as  unsettled  if  the  right  to  apply 
money  in  the  enumerated  cases  is  placed  on  the  ground  of 
usage. 

This  subject  has  been  one  of  much,  and,  I  may  add,  pain- 
ful, reflection  to  me.  It  has  bearings  that  are  well  calcu- 
lated to  exert  a  powerful  influence  upon  our  hitherto  pros- 
perous system  of  government,  and  which,  on  some  accounts, 
may  even  excite  despondency  in  the  breast  of  an  Ameri- 
can citizen.  I  will  not  detain  you  with  professions  of  zeal 
in  the  cause  of  internal  improvements.  If  to  be  their  friend 
is  a  virtue  which  deserves  commendation,  our  country  is 
blessed  with  an  abundance  of  it,  for  I  do  not  suppose  there 
is  an  intelligent  citizen  who  does  not  wish  to  see  them 
flourish.  But  though  all  are  their  friends,  but  few,  I  trust, 
are  unmindful  of  the  means  by  which  they  should  be  pro- 
moted; none  certainly  are  so  degenerate  as  to  desire  their 
success  at  the  cost  of  that  sacred  instrument  with  the  pres- 
ervation of  which  is  indissolubly  bound  our  country's 
hopes.  If  different  impressions  are  entertained  in  any 
quarter;  if  it  is  expected  that  the  people  of  this  country, 
reckless  of  their  constitutional  obligations,  will  prefer  their 
local  interest  to  the  principles  of  the  Union,  such  expecta- 
tions will  in  the  end  be  disappointed ;  or  if  it  be  not  so,  then 
indeed  has  the  world  but  little  to  hope  from  the  example  of 
free  government.  When  an  honest  observance  of  consti- 
tutional compacts  can  not  be  obtained  from  communities 
like  ours,  it  need  not  be  anticipated  elsewhere,  and  the 
cause  in  which  there  has  been  so  much  martyrdom,  and 
from  which  so  much  was  expected  by  the  friends  of  liberty, 
may  be  abandoned,  and  the  degrading  truth  that  man  is 
unfit  for  self-government  admitted.  And  this  will  be  the 
case  if  expediency  be  made  a  rule  of  construction  in  inter- 
preting the  Constitution.  Power  in  no  government  could 
desire  a  better  shield  for  the  insidious  advances  which  it  is 
ever  ready  to  make  upon  the  checks  that  are  designed  to 
restrain  its  action. 

But  I  do  not  entertain  such  gloomy  apprehensions.     If 


Veto  Messages  79 

it  be  the  wish  of  the  people  that  the  construction  of  roads 
and  canals  should  be  conducted  by  the  Federal  Government, 
it  is  not  only  highly  expedient,  but  indispensably  necessary, 
that  a  previous  amendment  of  the  Constitution,  delegating 
the  necessary  power  and  defining  and  restricting  its  exer- 
cise with  reference  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  States,  should 
be  made.  Without  it  nothing  extensively  useful  can  be  ef- 
fected. The  right  to  exercise  as  much  jurisdiction  as  is  nec- 
essary to  preserve  the  works  and  to  raise  funds  by  the  col- 
lection of  tolls  to  keep  them  in  repair  can  not  be  dispensed 
with.  The  Cumberland  road  should  be  an  instructive  ad- 
monition of  the  consequences  of  acting  without  this  right. 
Year  after  year  contests  are  witnessed,  growing  out  of  ef- 
forts to  obtain  the  necessary  appropriations  for  completing 
and  repairing  this  useful  work.  Whilst  one  Congress  may 
claim  and  exercise  the  power,  a  succeeding  one  may  deny 
it;  and  this  fluctuation  of  opinion  must  be  unavoidably 
fatal  to  any  scheme  which  from  its  extent  would  promote 
the  interests  and  elevate  the  character  of  the  country.  The 
experience  of  the  past  has  shown  that  the  opinion  of  Con- 
gress is  subject  to  such  fluctuations. 

If  it  be  the  desire  of  the  people  that  the  agency  of  the 
Federal  Government  should  be  confined  to  the  appropria- 
tion of  money  in  aid  of  such  undertakings,  in  virtue  of 
State  authorities,  then  the  occasion,  the  manner,  and  the 
extent  of  the  appropriations  should  be  made  the  subject  of 
constitutional  regulation.  This  is  the  more  necessary  in 
order  that  they  may  be  equitable  among  the  several  States, 
promote  harmony  between  different  sections  of  the  Union 
and  their  representatives,  preserve  other  parts  of  the  Con- 
stitution from  being  undermined  by  the  exercise  of  doubt- 
ful powers  or  the  too  great  extension  of  those  which  are 
not  so,  and  protect  the  whole  subject  against  the  deleterious 
influence  of  combinations  to  carry  by  concert  measures 
which,  considered  by  themselves,  might  meet  but  little 
countenance. 

That  a  constitutional  adjustment  of  this  power  upon 
equitable  principles  is  in  the  highest  degree  desirable  can 


8o  Andrew  Jackson 

scarcely  be  doubted,  nor  can  it  fail  to  be  promoted  by  every 
sincere  friend  to  the  success  of  our  political  institutions. 
In  no  government  are  appeals  to  the  source  of  power  in 
cases  of  real  doubt  more  suitable  than  in  ours.  No  good 
motive  can  be  assigned  for  the  exercise  of  power  by  the 
constituted  authorities,  while  those  for  whose  benefit  it  is  to 
be  exercised  have  not  conferred  it  and  may  not  be  willing 
to  confer  it.  It  would  seem  to  me  that  an  honest  applica- 
tion of  the  conceded  powers  of  the  General  Government  to 
the  advancement  of  the  common  weal  presents  a  sufficient 
scope  to  satisfy  a  reasonable  ambition.  The  difficulty  and 
supposed  impracticability  of  obtaining  an  amendment  of  the 
Constitution  in  this  respect  is,  I  firmly  believe,  in  a  great 
degree  unfounded.  The  time  has  never  yet  been  when  the 
patriotism  and  intelligence  of  the  American  people  were 
not  fully  equal  to  the  greatest  exigency,  and  it  never  will 
when  the  subject  calling  forth  their  interposition  is  plainly 
presented  to  them.  To  do  so  with  the  questions  involved  in 
this  bill,  and  to  urge  them  to  an  early,  zealous,  and  full 
consideration  of  their  deep  importance,  is,  in  my  estimation, 
among  the  highest  of  our  duties. 

A  supposed  connection  between  appropriations  for  in- 
ternal improvement  and  the  system  of  protecting  duties, 
growing  out  of  the  anxieties  of  those  more  immediately 
interested  in  their  success,  has  given  rise  to  suggestions 
which  it  is  proper  I  should  notice  on  this  occasion.  My 
opinions  on  these  subjects  have  never  been  concealed  from 
those  who  had  a  right  to  know  them.  Those  which  I  have 
entertained  on  the  latter  have  frequently  placed  me  in  op- 
position to  individuals  as  well  as  communities  whose  claims 
upon  my  friendship  and  gratitude  are  of  the  strongest  char- 
acter, but  I  trust  there  has  been  nothing  in  my  public  life 
which  has  exposed  me  to  the  suspicion  of  being  thought 
capable  of  sacrificing  my  views  of  duty  to  private  consid- 
erations, however  strong  they  may  have  been  or  deep  the 
regrets  which  they  are  capable  of  exciting. 

As  long  as  the  encouragement  of  domestic  manufactures 
is  directed  to  national  ends  it  shall  receive  from  me  a  tern- 


Veto  Messages  8i 

perate  but  steady  support.  There  is  no  necessary  connec- 
tion between  it  and  the  system  of  appropriations.  On  the 
contrary,  it  appears  to  me  that  the  supposition  of  their  de- 
pendence upon  each  other  is  calculated  to  excite  the  preju- 
dices of  the  public  against  both.  The  former  is  sustained 
on  the  grounds  of  its  consistency  with  the  letter  and  spirit 
of  the  Constitution,  of  its  origin  being  traced  to  the  as- 
sent of  all  the  parties  to  the  original  compact,  and  of  its 
having  the  support  and  approbation  of  a  majority  of  the 
people,  on  which  account  it  is  at  least  entitled  to  a  fair  ex- 
periment. The  suggestions  to  which  I  have  alluded  refer 
to  a  forced  continuance  of  the  national  debt  by  means  of 
large  appropriations  as  a  substitute  for  the  security  which 
the  system  derives  from  the  principles  on  which  it  has 
hitherto  been  sustained.  Such  a  course  would  certainly  in- 
dicate either  an  unreasonable  distrust  of  the  people  or  a 
consciousness  that  the  system  does  not  possess  sufficient 
soundness  for  its  support  if  left  to  their  voluntary  choice 
and  its  own  merits.  Those  who  suppose  that  any  policy 
thus  founded  can  be  long  upheld  in  this  country  have  looked 
upon  its  history  with  eyes  very  different  from  mine.  This 
policy,  like  every  other,  must  abide  the  will  of  the  people, 
who  will  not  be  likely  to  allow  any  device,  however  spe- 
cious, to  conceal  its  character  and  tendency. 

In  presenting  these  opinions  I  have  spoken  with  the 
freedom  and  candor  which  I  thought  the  occasion  for  their 
expression  called  for,  and  now  respectfully  return  the  bill 
which  has  been  under  consideration  for  your  further  de- 
liberation and  judgment. 


Second   Annual  Message.* 

(December  6,  1830.) 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives: The  pleasure  I  have  in  congratulating  you  upon  your 
return  to  your  constitutional  duties  is  much  heightened  by 
the  satisfaction  which  the  condition  of  our  beloved  country 
at  this  period  justly  inspires.  The  beneficent  Author  of  All 
Good  has  granted  to  us  during  the  present  year  health, 
peace,  and  plenty,  and  numerous  causes  for  joy  in  the  won- 
derful success  which  attends  the  progress  of  our  free  in- 
stitutions. 

With  a  population  unparalleled  in  its  increase,  and  pos- 
sessing a  character  which  combines  the  hardihood  of  enter- 
prise, with  the  considerateness  of  wisdom,  we  see  in  every 
section  of  our  happy  country  a  steady  improvement  in  the 
means  of  social  intercourse,  and  correspondent  effects  upon 
the  genius  and  laws  of  our  extended  Republic. 

The  apparent  exceptions  to  the  harmony  of  the  prospect 
are  to  be  referred  rather  to  inevitable  diversities  in  the 
various  interests  w'hich  enter  into  the  composition  of  so 
extensive  a  whole  than  to  any  want  of  attachment  to  the 
Union — interests  whose  collisions  serve  only  in  the  end  to 
foster  the  spirit  of  conciliation  and  patriotism  so  essential 

♦  This  message  should  be  read  in  connection  with  the  history  of  the 
period — especially  that  of  ( i )  American  trade  and  commerce,  with  Great 
Britain  (West  Indies),  Turkey;  (2)  French  spoliations;  (3)  internal 
improvements,  whether  by  the  United  States  or  by  local  (State) 
government;  (4)  distribution  of  the  surplus;  (5)  election  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President  by  direct,  popular  vote;  (6)  removal  of  Indian 
tribes  to  reservations  (Choctaws,  Chickasaws) ;  (7)  Georgia  and  other 
States,  and  Indian  lands  within  their  borders;  (8)  public  revenue; 
(0)  making  the  attorney-general  a  cabinet  officer;  (10)  recharter  of 
the  U.  S.  Bank. 

8s 


Second   Annual  Message  83 

to  the  preservation  of  that  Union  which  I  most  devoutly 
hope  is  destined  to  prove  imperishable. 

In  the  midst  of  these  blessings  we  have  recently  wit- 
nessed changes  in  the  condition  of  other  nations  which  may 
in  their  consequences  call  for  the  utmost  vigilance,  wisdom, 
and  unanimity  in  our  councils,  and  the  exercise  of  all  the 
moderation  and  patriotism  of  our  people. 

The  important  modifications  of  their  Government,  ef- 
fected with  so  much  courage  and  wisdom  by  the  people  of 
France,  afford  a  happy  presage  of  their  future  course,  and 
have  naturally  elicited  from  the  kindred  feelings  of  this  na- 
tion that  spontaneous  and  universal  burst  of  applause  in 
which  you  have  participated.  In  congratulating  you,  my 
fellow-citizens,  upon  an  event  so  auspicious  to  the  dearest 
interests  of  mankind  I  do  no  more  than  respond  to  the  voice 
of  my  country,  without  transcending  in  the  slightest  de- 
gree that  salutary  maxim  of  the  illustrious  Washington 
which  enjoins  an  abstinence  from  all  interference  with  the 
internal  affairs  of  other  nations.  From  a  people  exercis- 
ing in  the  most  unlimited  degree  the  right  of  self-govern- 
ment, and  enjoying,  as  derived  from  this  proud  characteris- 
tic, under  the  favor  of  Heaven,  much  of  the  happiness  with 
which  they  are  blessed ;  a  people  who  can  point  in  triumph 
to  their  free  institutions  and  challenge  comparison  with  the 
fruits  they  bear,  as  well  as  with  the  moderation,  intelli- 
gence, and  energy  with  which  they  are  administered — from 
such  a  people  the  deepest  sympathy  was  to  be  expected  in  a 
struggle  for  the  sacred  principles  of  liberty,  conducted  in  a 
spirit  every  way  worthy  of  the  cause,  and  crowned  by  a 
heroic  moderation  which  has  disarmed  revolution  of  its 
terrors.  Notwithstanding  the  strong  assurances  which  the 
man  whom  we  so  sincerely  love  and  justly  admire  has 
given  to  the  world  of  the  high  character  of  the  present 
King  of  the  French,  and  which  if  sustained  to  the  end  will 
secure  to  him  the  proud  appellation  of  Patriot  King,  it  is 
not  in  his  success,  but  in  that  of  the  great  principle  which 
has  borne  him  to  the  throne — the  paramount  authority  of 
the  public  will — that  the  American  people  rejoice. 


84  Andrew  Jackson 

I  am  happy  to  inform  you  that  the  anticipations  which 
were  indulged  at  the  date  of  my  last  communication  on  the 
subject  of  our  foreign  affairs  have  been  fully  realized  in 
several  important  particulars. 

An  arrangement  has  been  effected  with  Great  Britain  in 
relation  to  the  trade  between  the  United  States  and  her 
West  India  and  North  American  colonies  which  has  settled 
a  question  that  has  for  years  afforded  matter  for  contention 
and  almost  uninterrupted  discussion,  and  has  been  the  sub- 
ject of  no  less  than  six  negotiations,  in  a  manner  which 
promises  results  highly  favorable  to  the  parties. 

The  abstract  right  of  Great  Britain  to  monopohze  the 
trade  with  her  colonies  or  to  exclude  us  from  a  participation 
therein  has  never  been  denied  by  the  United  States.  But  we 
have  contended,  and  with  reason,  that  if  at  any  time  Great 
Britain  may  desire  the  productions  of  this  country  as  neces- 
sary to  her  colonies  they  must  be  received  upon  principles 
of  just  reciprocity,  and,  further,  that  it  is  making  an  in- 
vidious and  unfriendly  distinction  to  open  her  colonial  ports 
to  the  vessels  of  other  nations  and  close  them  against  those 
of  the  United  States. 

Antecedently  to  1794  a  portion  of  our  productions  was 
admitted  into  the  colonial  islands  of  Great  Britain  by  par- 
ticular concessions,  limited  to  the  term  of  one  year,  but 
renewed  from  year  to  year.  In  the  transportation  of  these 
productions,  however,  our  vessels  were  not  allowed  to  en- 
gage, this  being  a  privilege  reserved  to  British  shipping, 
by  which  alone  our  produce  could  be  taken  to  the  islands 
and  theirs  brought  to  us  in  return.  From  Newfoundland 
and  her  continental  possessions  all  our  productions,  as  well 
as  our  vessels,  were  excluded,  with  occasional  relaxations, 
by  which,  in  seasons  of  distress,  the  former  were  admitted 
in  British  bottoms. 

By  the  treaty  of  1794  she  offered  to  concede  to  us  for  a 
limited  time  the  right  of  carrying  to  her  West  India  pos- 
sessions in  our  vessels  not  exceeding  70  tons  burthen,  and 
upon  the  same  terms  as  British  vessels,  any  productions  of 
the  United  States  which  British  vessels  might  import  there- 


Second  Annual  Message  85 

from.  But  this  privilege  was  coupled  with  conditions  which 
are  supposed  to  have  led  to  its  rejection  by  the  Senate ;  that 
is,  that  American  vessels  should  land  their  return  cargoes 
in  the  United  States  only,  and,  moreover,  that  they  should 
during  the  continuance  of  the  privilege  be  precluded  from 
carrying  molasses,  sugar,  coffee,  cocoa,  or  cotton  either 
from  those  islands  or  from  the  United  States  to  any  other 
part  of  the  world.  Great  Britain  readily  consented  to  ex- 
punge this  article  from  the  treaty,  and  subsequent  attempts 
to  arrange  the  terms  of  the  trade  either  by  treaty  stipula- 
tions or  concerted  legislation  having  failed,  it  has  been  suc- 
cessively suspended  and  allowed  according  to  the  varying 
legislation  of  the  parties. 

The  following  are  the  prominent  points  which  have  in 
later  years  separated  the  two  Governments :  Besides  a  re- 
striction whereby  all  importations  into  her  colonies  in 
American  vessels  are  confined  to  our  own  products  carried 
hence,  a  restriction  to  which  it  does  not  appear  that  we  have 
ever  objected,  a  leading  object  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain 
has  been  to  prevent  us  from  becoming  the  carriers  of  Brit- 
ish West  India  commodities  to  any  other  country  than  our 
own.  On  the  part  of  the  United  States  it  has  been  con- 
tended first,  that  the  subject  should  be  regulated  by  treaty 
stipulation  in  preference  to  separate  legislation ;  second,  that 
our  productions,  when  imported  into  the  colonies  in  ques- 
tion, should  not  be  subject  to  higher  duties  than  the  produc- 
tions of  the  mother  country  or  of  her  other  colonial  posses- 
sions, and,  third,  that  our  vessels  should  be  allowed  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  circuitous  trade  between  the  United  States 
and  different  parts  of  the  British  dominions. 

The  first  point,  after  having  been  for  a  long  time  stren- 
uously insisted  upon  by  Great  Britain,  was  given  up  by  the 
act  of  Parliament  of  July,  1825,  all  vessels  suffered  to 
trade  with  the  colonies  being  permitted  to  clear  from  thence 
with  any  articles  which  British  vessels  might  export  and 
proceed  to  any  part  of  the  world.  Great  Britain  and  her 
dependencies  alone  excepted.  On  our  part  each  of  the 
above  points  had  in  succession  been  explicitly  abandoned  in 


86  Andrew  Jackson 

negotiations  preceding  that  of  which  the  result  is  now  an- 
nounced. 

This  arrangement  secures  to  the  United  States  every 
advantage  asked  by  them,  and  which  the  state  of  the  nego- 
tiation allowed  us  to  insist  upon.  The  trade  will  be  placed 
upon  a  footing  decidedly  more  favorable  to  this  country 
than  any  on  which  it  ever  stood,  and  our  commerce  and 
navigation  will  enjoy  in  the  colonial  ports  of  Great  Britain 
every  privilege  allowed  to  other  nations. 

That  the  prosperity  of  the  country  so  far  as  it  depends 
on  this  trade  will  be  greatly  promoted  by  the  new  arrange- 
ment there  can  be  no  doubt.  Independently  of  the  more 
obvious  advantages  of  an  open  and  direct  intercourse,  its  es- 
tablishment will  be  attended  with  other  consequences  of  a 
higher  value.  That  which  has  been  carried  on  since  the 
mutual  interdict  under  all  the  expense  and  inconvenience 
unavoidably  incident  to  it  would  have  been  insupportably 
onerous  had  it  not  been  in  a  great  degree  lightened  by  con- 
certed evasions  in  the  mode  of  making  the  transhipments  at 
what  are  called  the  neutral  ports.  These  indirections  are 
inconsistent  with  the  dignity  of  nations  that  have  so  many 
motives  not  only  to  cherish  feelings  of  mutual  friendship, 
but  to  maintain  such  relations  as  will  stimulate  their  respec- 
tive citizens  and  subjects  to  efforts  of  direct,  open,  and 
honorable  competition  only,  and  preserve  them  from  the  in- 
fluence of  seductive  and  vitiating  circumstances. 

When  your  preliminary  interposition  was  asked  at  the 
close  of  the  last  session,  a  copy  of  the  instructions  under 
which  Mr.  McLane  has  acted,  together  with  the  communi- 
cations which  had  at  that  time  passed  between  him  and  the 
British  Government,  was  laid  before  you.  Although  there 
has  not  been  anything  in  the  acts  of  the  two  Governments 
which  requires  secrecy,  it  was  thought  most  proper  in  the 
then  state  of  the  negotiation  to  make  that  communication  a 
confidential  one.  So  soon,  however,  as  the  evidence  of  exe- 
cution on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  is  received  the  whole 
matter  shall  be  laid  before  you,  when  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  apprehension  which  appears  to  have  suggested  one  of 


Second   Annual  Message  87 

the  provisions  of  the  act  passed  at  your  last  session,  that 
the  restoration  of  the  trade  in  question  might  be  connected 
with  other  subjects  and  was  sought  to  be  obtained  at  the 
sacrifice  of  the  public  interest  in  other  particulars,  was 
wholly  unfounded,  and  that  the  change  which  has  taken 
place  in  the  views  of  the  British  Government  has  been  in- 
duced by  considerations  as  honorable  to  both  parties  as  I 
trust  the  result  will  prove  beneficial. 

This  desirable  result  was,  it  will  be  seen,  greatly  pro- 
moted by  the  liberal  and  confiding  provisions  of  the  act  of 
Congress  of  the  last  session,  by  which  our  ports  were  upon 
the  reception  and  annunciation  by  the  President  of  the  re- 
quired assurance  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  forthwith 
opened  to  her  vessels  before  the  arrangement  could  be  car- 
ried into  effect  on  her  part,  pursuing  in  this  act  of  prospec- 
tive legislation  a  similar  course  to  that  adopted  by  Great 
Britain  in  abolishing,  by  her  act  of  Parliament  in  1825,  a 
restriction  then  existing  and  permitting  our  vessels  to  clear 
from  the  colonies  on  their  return  voyages  for  any  foreign 
country  whatever  before  British  vessels  had  been  relieved 
from  the  restriction  imposed  by  our  law  of  returning  di- 
rectly from  the  United  States  to  the  colonies,  a  restriction 
which  she  required  and  expected  that  we  should  abolish. 
Upon  each  occasion  a  limited  and  temporary  advantage  has 
been  given  to  the  opposite  party,  but  an  advantage  of  no 
importance  in  comparison  with  the  restoration  of  mutual 
confidence  and  good  feeling,  and  the  ultimate  establishment 
of  the  trade  upon  fair  principles. 

It  gives  me  unfeigned  pleasure  to  assure  you  that  this 
negotiation  has  been  throughout  characterized  by  the  most 
frank  and  friendly  spirit  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  and 
concluded  in  a  manner  strongly  indicative  of  a  sincere  de- 
sire to  cultivate  the  best  relations  with  the  United  States. 
To  reciprocate  this  disposition  to  the  fullest  extent  of  my 
ability  is  a  duty  which  I  shall  deem  it  a  privilege  to  dis- 
charge. 

Although  the  result  is  itself  the  best  commentary  on  the 
services  rendered   to  his  country  by  our  minister  at  the 


88 


Andrew  Jackson 


Court  of  St.  James,  it  would  be  doing  violence  to  my  feel- 
ings were  I  to  dismiss  the  subject  without  expressing  the 
very  high  sense  I  entertain  of  the  talent  and  exertion  which 
have  been  displayed  by  him  on  the  occasion. 

The  injury  to  the  commerce  of  the  United  States  re- 
sulting from  the  exclusion  of  our  vessels  from  the  Black 
Sea  and  the  previous  footing  of  mere  sufferance  upon  which 
even  the  limited  trade  enjoyed  by  us  with  Turkey  has 
hitherto  been  placed  have  for  a  long  time  been  a  source  of 
much  solicitude  to  this  Government,  and  several  endeavors 
have  been  made  to  obtain  a  better  state  of  things.  Sensible 
of  the  importance  of  the  object,  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  leave 
no  proper  means  unemployed  to  acquire  for  our  flag  the 
same  privileges  that  are  enjoyed  by  the  principal  powers 
of  Europe.  Commissioners  were  consequently  appointed 
to  open  a  negotiation  with  the  Sublime  Porte.  Not  long 
after  the  member  of  the  commission  who  went  directly  from 
the  United  States  had  sailed,  the  account  of  the  treaty  of 
Adrianople,  by  which  one  of  the  objects  in  view  was  sup- 
posed to  be  secured,  reached  this  country.  The  Black  Sea 
was  understood  to  be  opened  to  us.  Under  the  supposition 
that  this  was  the  case,  the  additional  facilities  to  be  derived 
from  the  establishment  of  commercial  regulations  with  the 
Porte  were  deemed  of  sufficient  importance  to  require  a 
prosecution  of  the  negotiation  as  originally  contemplated. 
It  was  therefore  persevered  in,  and  resulted  in  a  treaty, 
which  will  be  forthwith  laid  before  the  Senate. 

By  its  provisions  a  free  passage  is  secured,  without  lim- 
itation of  time,  to  the  vessels  of  the  United  States  to  and 
from  the  Black  Sea,  including  the  navigation  thereof,  and 
our  trade  with  Turkey  is  placed  on  the  footing  of  the  most 
favored  nation.  The  latter  is  an  arrangement  wholly  in- 
dependent of  the  treaty  of  Adrianople,  and  the  former  de- 
rives much  value,  not  only  from  the  increased  security 
which  under  any  circumstances  it  would  give  to  the  right  in 
(|uestion,  but  from  the  fact,  ascertained  in  the  course  of  the 
negotiation,  that  by  the  construction  put  upon  that  treaty 
by  Turkey  the  article  relating  to  the  passage  of  the  Bospho- 


Second  Annual  Message  89 

rus  is  confined  to  nations  having  treaties  with  the  Porte. 
The  most  friendly  feehngs  appear  to  be  entertained  by  the 
Sultan,  and  an  enlightened  disposition  is  evinced  by  him 
to  foster  the  intercourse  between  the  two  countries  by  the 
most  liberal  arrangements.  This  disposition  it  will  be  our 
duty  and  interest  to  cherish. 

Our  relations  with  Russia  are  of  the  most  stable  char- 
acter. Respect  for  that  Empire  and  confidence  in  its  friend- 
ship toward  the  United  States  have  been  so  long  entertained 
on  our  part  and  so  carefully  cherished  by  the  present 
Emperor  and  his  illustrious  predecessor  as  to  have  become 
incorporated  with  the  public  sentiment  of  the  United  States. 
No  means  will  be  left  unemployed  on  my  part  to  promote 
these  salutary  feelings  and  those  improvements  of  which 
the  commercial  intercourse  between  the  two  countries  is  sus- 
ceptible, and  which  have  derived  increased  importance  from 
our  treaty  with  the  Sublime  Porte. 

I  sincerely  regret  to  inform  you  that  our  minister  lately 
commissioned  to  that  Court,  on  whose  distinguished  talents 
and  great  experience  in  public  afifairs  I  place  great  reliance, 
has  been  compelled  by  extreme  indisposition  to  exercise  a 
privilege  which,  in  consideration  of  the  extent  to  which  his 
constitution  had  been  impaired  in  the  public  service,  was 
committed  to  his  discretion — of  leaving  temporarily  his 
post  for  the  advantage  of  a  more  genial  climate. 

If,  as  it  is  to  be  hoped,  the  improvement  of  his  health 
should  be  such  as  to  justify  him  in  doing  so,  he  will  repair 
to  St.  Petersburg  and  resume  the  discharge  of  his  official 
duties.  I  have  received  the  most  satisfactory  assurances 
that  in  the  meantime  the  public  interest  in  that  quarter  will 
be  preserved  from  prejudice  by  the  intercourse  which  he 
will  continue  through  the  secretary  of  legation  with  the 
Russian  cabinet. 

You  are  apprised,  although  the  fact  has  not  yet  been  offi- 
cially announced  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  that  a 
treaty  was  in  the  month  of  March  last  concluded  between 
the  United  States  and  Denmark,  by  which  $650,000  are  se- 
cured to  our  citizens  as  an  indemnity  for  spoliations  upon 


90  Andrew   Jackson 

their  commerce  in  the  years  1808,  1809,  1810,  and  181 1. 
This  treaty  was  sanctioned  by  the  Senate  at  the  close  of  its 
last  session,  and  it  now  becomes  the  duty  of  Congress  to 
pass  the  necessary  laws  for  the  organization  of  the  board 
of  commissioners  to  distribute  the  indemnity  among  the 
claimants.  It  is  an  agreeable  circumstance  in  this  adjust- 
ment that  the  terms  are  in  conformity  with  the  previously 
ascertained  views  of  the  claimants  themselves,  thus  remov- 
ing all  pretense  for  a  future  agitation  of  the  subject  in 
any  form. 

The  negotiations  in  regard  to  such  points  in  our  for- 
eign relations  as  remain  to  be  adjusted  have  been  actively 
prosecuted  during  the  recess.  Material  advances  have  been 
made,  which  are  of  a  character  to  promise  favorable  re- 
sults. Our  country,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  is  not  in  a  sit- 
uation to  invite  aggression,  and  it  will  be  our  fault  if  she 
ever  becomes  go.  Sincerely  desirous  to  cultivate  the  most 
liberal  and  friendly  relations  with  all;  ever  ready  to  fulfill 
our  engagements  with  scrupulous  fidelity;  limiting  our  de- 
mands upon  others  to  mere  justice;  holding  ourselves  ever 
ready  to  do  unto  them  as  we  would  wish  to  be  done  by, 
and  avoiding  even  the  appearance  of  undue  partiality  to  any 
nation,  it  appears  to  me  impossible  that  a  simple  and  sin- 
cere application  of  our  principles  to  our  foreign  relations 
can  fail  to  place  them  ultimately  upon  the  footing  on  which 
it  is  our  wish  they  should  rest. 

Of  the  points  referred  to,  the  most  prominent  are  our 
claims  upon  France  for  spoliations  upon  our  commerce; 
similar  claims  upon  Spain,  together  with  embarrassments 
in  the  commercial  intercourse  between  the  two  countries 
which  ought  to  be  removed;  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  of 
commerce  and  navigation  with  Mexico,  which  has  been  so 
long  in  suspense,  as  well  as  the  final  settlement  of  limits  be- 
tween ourselves  and  that  Republic,  and,  finally,  the  arbitra- 
ment of  the  question  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  in  regard  to  the  northeastern  boundary. 

The  negotiation  with  France  has  been  conducted  by  our 
minister  with  zeal  and  ability,  and  in  all  respects  to  my  en- 


Second   Annual  Message  9^ 

tire  satisfaction.  Although  the  prospect  of  a  favorable 
termination  was  occasionally  dimmed  by  counter  preten- 
sions to  which  the  United  States  could  not  assent,  he  yet  had 
strong  hopes  of  being  able  to  arrive  at  a  satisfactory  settle- 
ment with  the  late  Government.  The  negotiation  has  been 
renewed  with  the  present  authorities,  and,  sensible  of  the 
general  and  lively  confidence  of  our  citizens  in  the  justice 
and  magnanimity  of  regenerated  France,  I  regret  the  more 
not  to  have  it  in  my  power  yet  to  announce  the  result  so 
confidently  anticipated.  No  ground,  however,  inconsistent 
with  this  expectation  has  yet  been  taken,  and  I  do  not  allow 
myself  to  doubt  that  justice  will  soon  be  done  us.  The 
amount  of  the  claims,  the  length  of  time  they  have  re- 
mained unsatisfied,  and  their  incontrovertible  justice  make 
an  earnest  prosecution  of  them  by  this  Government  an  ur- 
gent duty.  The  illegality  of  the  seizures  and  confiscations 
out  of  which  they  have  arisen  is  not  disputed,  and  what- 
ever distinctions  may  have  heretofore  been  set  up  in  regard 
to  the  liability  of  the  existing  Government  it  is  quite  clear 
that  such  considerations  can  not  now  be  interposed. 

The  commercial  intercourse  between  the  two  countries  is 
susceptible  of  highly  advantageous  improvements,  but  the 
sense  of  this  injury  has  had,  and  must  continue  to  have,  a 
very  unfavorable  influence  upon  them.  From  its  satisfac- 
tory adjustment  not  only  a  firm  and  cordial  friendship,  but 
a  progressive  development  of  all  their  relations  may  be  ex- 
pected. It  is,  therefore,  my  earnest  hope  that  this  old  and 
vexatious  subject  of  difference  may  be  speedily  removed. 

I  feel  that  my  confidence  in  our  appeal  to  the  motives 
which  should  govern  a  just  and  magnanimous  nation  is 
alike  warranted  by  the  character  of  the  French  people  and 
by  the  high  voucher  we  possess  for  the  enlarged  views  and 
pure  integrity  of  the  Monarch  who  now  presides  over  their 
councils,  and  nothing  shall  be  wanting  on  my  part  to  meet 
any  manifestation  of  the  spirit  we  anticipate  in  one  of  cor- 
responding frankness  and  liberality. 

The  subjects  of  difference  with  Spain  have  been  brought 
to  the  view  of  that  Government  by  our  minister  there  with 


92  Andrew   Jackson 

much  force  and  propriety,  and  the  strongest  assurances 
have  been  received  of  their  early  and  favorable  considera- 
tion. 

The  steps  which  remained  to  place  the  matter  in  con- 
troversy between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  fairly 
before  the  arbitrator  have  all  been  taken  in  the  same  lib- 
eral and  friendly  spirit  which  characterized  those  before  an- 
nounced. Recent  events  have  doubtless  served  to  delay  the 
decision,  but  our  minister  at  the  Court  of  the  distinguished 
arbitrator  has  been  assured  that  it  will  be  made  within  the 
time  contemplated  by  the  treaty. 

I  am  particularly  gratified  in  being  able  to  state  that  a  de- 
cidedly favorable,  and,  as  I  hope,  lasting,  change  has  been 
effected  in  our  relations  with  the  neighboring  Republic  of 
Mexico.  The  unfortunate  and  unfounded  suspicions  in  re- 
gard to  our  disposition  which  it  became  my  painful  duty  to 
advert  to  on  a  former  occasion  have  been,  I  believe,  entirely 
removed,  and  the  Government  of  Mexico  has  been  made 
to  understand  the  real  character  of  the  wishes  and  views 
of  this  in  regard  to  that  country.  The  consequence  is  the 
establishment  of  friendship  and  mutual  conficlence.  Such 
are  the  assurances  I  have  received,  and  I  see  no  cause  to 
doubt  their  sincerity. 

I  had  reason  to  expect  the  conclusion  of  a  commercial 
treaty  with  Mexico  in  season  for  communication  on  the 
present  occasion.  Circumstances  which  are  not  explained, 
but  which  I  am  persuaded  are  not  the  result  of  an  indispo- 
sition on  her  part  to  enter  into  it,  have  produced  the  delay. 

There  was  reason  to  fear  in  the  course  of  the  last  sum- 
mer that  the  harmony  of  our  relations  might  be  disturbed 
by  the  acts  of  certain  claimants,  under  Mexican  grants,  of 
territory  which  had  hitherto  been  under  our  jurisdiction. 
The  cooperation  of  the  representative  of  Mexico  near  this 
Government  was  asked  on  the  occasion  and  was  readily  af- 
forded. Instructions  and  advice  have  been  given  to  the 
governor  of  Arkansas  and  the  officers  in  command  in  the 
adjoining  Mexican  State  by  which  it  is  hoped  the  quiet  of 
that   frontier  will  be  preserved  until  a  final  settlement  of 


Second   Annual  Message  93 

the  dividing  line  shall  have  removed  all  ground  of  contro- 
versy. 

The  exchange  of  ratifications  of  the  treaty  concluded  last 
year  with  Austria  has  not  yet  taken  place.  The  delay  has 
been  occasioned  by  the  nonarrival  of  the  ratification  of  that 
Government  within  the  time  prescribed  by  the  treaty.  Re- 
newed authority  has  been  asked  for  by  the  representative  of 
Austria,  and  in  the  meantime  the  rapidly  increasing  trade 
and  navigation  between  the  two  countries  have  been  placed 
upon  the  most  liberal  footing  of  our  navigation  acts. 

Several  alleged  depredations  have  been  recently  commit- 
ted on  our  commerce  by  the  national  vessels  of  Portugal. 
They  have  been  made  the  subject  of  immediate  remon- 
strance and  reclamation.  I  am  not  yet  possessed  of  suffi- 
cient information  to  express  a  definitive  opinion  of  their 
character,  but  expect  soon  to  receive  it.  No  proper  means 
shall  be  omitted  to  obtain  for  our  citizens  all  the  redress 
to  which  they  may  appear  to  be  entitled. 

Almost  at  the  moment  of  the  adjournment  of  your  last 
session  two  bills — the  one  entitled  "  An  act  for  making  ap- 
propriations for  building  light-houses,  light-boats,  beacons, 
and  monuments,  placing  buoys,  and  for  improving  harbors 
and  directing  surveys,"  and  the  other  "  An  act  to  authorize 
a  subscription  for  stock  in  the  Louisville  and  Portland  Ca- 
nal Company  " — were  submitted  for  my  approval.  It  was 
not  possible  within  the  time  allowed  me  before  the  close  of 
the  session  to  give  to  these  bills  the  consideration  which 
was  due  to  their  character  and  importance,  and  I  was  com- 
pelled to  retain  them  for  that  purpose.  I  now  avail  myself 
of  this  early  opportunity  to  return  them  to  the  Houses  in 
which  they  respectively  originated  with  the  reasons  which, 
after  mature  deliberation,  compel  me  to  withhold  my  ap- 
proval. 

The  practice  of  defraying  out  of  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States  the  expenses  incurred  by  the  establishment 
and  support  of  light-houses,  beacons,  buoys,  and  public 
piers  within  the  bays,  inlets,  harbors,  and  ports  of  the 
United  States,  to  render  the  navigation  thereof  safe  and 


94  Andrew  Jackson 

easy,  is  coeval  with  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  and 
has  been  continued  without  interruption  or  dispute. 

As  our  foreign  commerce  increased  and  was  extended 
into  the  interior  of  the  country  by  the  estabHshment  of 
ports  of  entry  and  dehvery  upon  our  navigable  rivers  the 
sphere  of  those  expenditures  received  a  corresponding  en- 
largement. Light-houses,  beacons,  buoys,  public  piers,  and 
the  removal  of  sand  bars,  sawyers,  and  other  partial  or- 
temporary  impediments  in  the  navigable  rivers  and  harbors 
which  were  embraced  in  the  revenue  districts  from  time  to 
time  established  by  law  were  authorized  upon  the  same 
principle  and  the  expense  defrayed  in  the  same  manner. 
That  these  expenses  have  at  times  been  extravagant  and 
disproportionate  is  very  probable.  The  circumstances  un- 
der which  they  are  incurred  are  well  calculated  to  lead  to 
such  a  result  unless  their  application  is  subjected  to  the  clos- 
est scrutiny.  The  local  advantages  arising  from  the  dis- 
bursement of  public  money  too  frequently,  it  is  to  be  feared, 
invite  appropriations  for  objects  of  this  character  that  are 
neither  necessary  nor  useful. 

The  number  of  light-house  keepers  is  already  very  large, 
and  the  bill  before  me  proposes  to  add  to  it  fifty-one  more 
of  various  descriptions.  From  representations  upon  the 
subject  which  are  understood  to  be  entitled  to  respect  I  am 
induced  to  believe  that  there  has  not  only  been  great  im- 
providence in  the  past  expenditures  of  the  Government  upon 
these  objects,  but  that  the  security  of  navigation  has  in 
some  instances  been  diminished  by  the  multiplication  of 
light-houses  and  consequent  change  of  lights  upon  the  coast. 
It  is  in  this  as  in  other  respects  our  duty  to  avoid  all  un- 
necessary expense,  as  well  as  every  increase  of  patronage 
not  called  for  by  the  public  service.  But  in  the  discharge 
of  that  duty  in  this  particular  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
in  relation  to  our  foreign  commerce  the  burden  and  benefit 
of  protecting  and  accommodating  it  necessarily  go  together, 
and  must  do  so  as  long  as  the  public  revenue  is  drawn  from 
the  people  through  the  custom-house.  It  is  indisputable 
that    whatever    gives    facility    and    security    to    navigation 


Second  Annual  Message  95 

cheapens  imports,  and  all  who  consume  them  are  alike  in- 
terested in  whatever  produces  this  effect.  If  they  con- 
sume, they  ought,  as  they  now  do,  to  pay;  otherwise  they 
do  not  pay.  The  consumer  in  the  most  inland  State  de- 
rives the  same  advantage  from  every  necessary  and  prudent 
expenditure  for  the  facility  and  security  of  our  foreign 
commerce  and  navigation  that  he  does  who  resides  in  a 
maritime  State.  Local  expenditures  have  not  of  them- 
selves a  corresponding  operation. 

From  a  bill  making  direct  appropriations  for  such  objects 
I  should  not  have  withheld  my  assent.  The  one  now  re- 
turned does  so  in  several  particulars,  but  it  also  contains 
appropriations  for  surveys  of  a  local  character,  which  I 
can  not  approve.  It  gives  me  satisfaction  to  find  that  no 
serious  inconvenience  has  arisen  from  withholding  my  ap- 
proval from  this  bill ;  nor  will  it,  I  trust,  be  cause  of  regret 
that  an  opportunity  will  be  thereby  afforded  for  Congress 
to  review  its  provisions  under  circumstances  better  calcu- 
lated for  full  investigation  than  those  under  which  it  was 
passed. 

In  speaking  of  direct  appropriations  I  mean  not  to  in- 
clude a  practice  which  has  obtained  to  some  extent,  and  to 
which  I  have  in  one  instance,  in  a  different  capacity,  given 
my  assent — that  of  subscribing  to  the  stock  of  private 
associations.  Positive  experience  and  a  more  thorough 
consideration  of  the  subject  have  convinced  me  of  the  im- 
propriety as  well  as  inexpediency  of  such  investments.  All 
improvements  effected  by  the  funds  of  the  nation  for  general 
use  should  be  open  to  the  enjoyment  of  all  our  fellow-citi- 
zens, exempt  from  the  payment  of  tolls  or  any  imposition  of 
that  character.  The  practice  of  thus  mingling  the  concerns 
of  the  Government  with  those  of  the  States  or  of  individuals 
is  inconsistent  with  the  object  of  its  institution  and  highly 
impolitic.  The  successful  operation  of  the  federal  system 
can  only  be  preserved  by  confining  it  to  the  few  and  simple, 
but  yet  important,  objects  for  which  it  was  designed. 

A  different  practice,  if  allowed  to  progress,  would  ulti- 
mately change  the  character  of  this  Government  by  consoli- 


96  Andrew  Jackson 

dating  into  one  the  General  and  State  Governments,  which 
were  intended  to  be  kept  forever  distinct.  I  can  not  perceive 
how  bills  authorizing  such  subscriptions  can  be  otherwise 
regarded  than  as  bills  for  revenue,  and  consequently  subject 
to  the  rule  in  that  respect  prescribed  by  the  Constitution.  If 
the  interest  of  the  Government  in  private  companies  is  sub- 
ordinate to  that  of  individuals,  the  management  and  control 
of  a  portion  of  the  public  funds  is  delegated  to  an  authority 
unknown  to  the  Constitution  and  beyond  the  supervision 
of  our  constituents;  if  superior,  its  officers  and  agents  will 
be  constantly  exposed  to  imputations  of  favoritism  and  op- 
pression. Direct  prejudice  to  the  public  interest  or  an 
alienation  of  the  affections  and  respect  of  portions  of  the 
people  may,  therefore,  in  addition  to  the  general  discredit 
resulting  to  the  Government  from  embarking  with  its  con- 
stituents in  pecuniary  stipulations,  be  looked  for  as  the 
probable  fruit  of  such  associations.  It  is  no  answer  to  this 
objection  to  say  that  the  extent  of  consequences  like  these 
can  not  be  great  from  a  limited  and  small  number  of  in- 
vestments, because  experience  in  other  matters  teaches  us — 
and  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  disregard  its  admonitions — 
that  unless  an  entire  stop  be  put  to  them  it  will  soon  be 
impossible  to  prevent  their  accumulation  until  they  are 
spread  over  the  whole  country  and  made  to  embrace  many 
of  the  private  and  appropriate  concerns  of  individuals. 

The  power  which  the  General  Government  would  acquire 
within  the  several  States  by  becoming  the  principal  stock- 
holder in  corporations,  controlling  every  canal  and  each  60 
or  100  miles  of  every  important  road,  and  giving  a  propor- 
tionate vote  in  all  their  elections,  is  almost  inconceivable, 
and  in  my  view  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people. 

This  mode  of  aiding  such  works  is  also  in  its  nature  de- 
ceptive, and  in  many  cases  conducive  to  improvidence  in 
the  administration  of  the  national  funds.  Appropriations 
will  he  obtained  with  much  greater  facility  and  granted 
with  less  security  to  the  public  interest  when  the  measure 
is  thus  disguised  than  when  definite  and  direct  expenditures 
of  money  are  asked  for.    The  interests  of  the  nation  would 


Second   Annual  Message  97 

doubtless  be  better  served  by  avoiding  all  such  indirect 
modes  of  aiding  particular  objects.  In  a  government  like 
ours  more  especially  should  all  public  acts  be,  as  far  as 
practicable,  simple,  undisguised,  and  intelligible,  that  they 
may  become  fit  subjects  for  the  approbation  or  animadver- 
sion of  the  people.  The  bill  authorizing  a  subscription  to 
the  Louisville  and  Portland  Canal  affords  a  striking  illus- 
tration of  the  difficulty  of  withholding  additional  appropria- 
tions for  the  same  object  when  the  first  erroneous  step  has 
been  taken  by  instituting  a  partnership  between  the  Gov- 
ernment and  private  companies.  It  proposes  a  third  sub- 
scription on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  when  each  pre- 
ceding one  was  at  the  time  regarded  as  the  extent  of  the 
aid  which  Government  was  to  render  to  that  work ;  and 
the  accompanying  bill  for  light-houses,  etc.,  contains  an 
appropriation  for  a  survey  of  the  bed  of  the  river,  with  a 
view  to  its  improvement  by  removing  the  obstruction  which 
the  canal  is  designed  to  avoid.  This  improvement,  if  suc- 
cessful, would  afford  a  free  passage  of  the  river  and  render 
the  canal  entirely  useless.  To  such  improvidence  is  the 
course  of  legislation  subject  in  relation  to  internal  improve- 
ments on  local  matters,  even  with  the  best  intentions  on  the 
part  of  Congress. 

Although  the  motives  which  have  influenced  me  in  this 
matter  may  be  already  sufficiently  stated,  I  am,  nevertheless, 
induced  by  its  importance  to  add  a  few  observations  of  a 
general  character. 

In  my  objections  to  the  bills  authorizing  subscriptions  to 
the  Maysville  and  Rockville  road  companies  I  expressed  my 
views  fully  in  regard  to  the  power  of  Congress  to  construct 
roads  and  canals  within  a  State  or  to  appropriate  money  for 
improvements  of  a  local  character.  I  at  the  same  time  in- 
timated my  belief  that  the  right  to  make  appropriations  for 
such  as  were  of  a  national  character  had  been  so  generally 
acted  upon  and  so  long  acquiesced  in  by  the  Federal  and 
State  Governments  and  the  constituents  of  each  as  to  justify 
its  exercise  on  the  ground  of  continued  and  uninterrupted 
usage,  but  that  it  was,  nevertheless,  highly  expedient  that 


98  Andrew  Jackson 

appropriations  even  of  that  character  should,  with  the  ex- 
ception made  at  the  time,  be  deferred  until  the  national 
debt  is  paid,  and  that  in  the  meanwhile  some  general  rule 
for  the  action  of  the  Government  in  that  respect  ought  to 
be  established. 

These  suggestions  were  not  necessary  to  the  decision  of 
the  question  then  before  me,  and  were,  I  readily  admit,  in- 
tended to  awake  the  attention  and  draw  forth  the  opinions 
and  observations  of  our  constituents  upon  a  subject  of  the 
highest  importance  to  their  interests,  and  one  destined  to 
exert  a  powerful  influence  upon  the  future  operations  of 
our  political  system.  I  know  of  no  tribunal  to  which  a 
public  man  in  this  country,  in  a  case  of  doubt  and  difficulty, 
can  appeal  with  greater  advantage  or  more  propriety  than 
the  judgment  of  the  people;  and  although  I  must  neces- 
sarily in  the  discharge  of  my  official  duties  be  governed  by 
the  dictates  of  my  own  judgment,  I  have  no  desire  to  con- 
ceal my  anxious  wish  to  conform  as  far  as  I  can  to  the  views 
of  those  for  whom  I  act. 

All  irregular  expressions  of  public  opinion  are  of  neces- 
sity attended  w'ith  some  doubt  as  to  their  accuracy,  but 
making  full  allowances  on  that  account  I  can  not,  I  think, 
deceive  myself  in  believing  that  the  acts  referred  to,  as 
well  as  the  suggestions  which  I  allowed  myself  to  make  in 
relation  to  their  bearing  upon  the  future  operations  of  the 
Government,  have  been  approved  by  the  great  body  of  the 
people.  That  those  whose  immediate  pecuniary  interests 
are  to  be  affected  by  proposed  expenditures  should  shrink 
from  the  application  of  a  rule  which  prefers  their  more  gen- 
eral and  remote  interests  to  those  which  are  personal  and 
immediate  is  to  be  expected.  But  even  such  objections  must 
from  the  nature  of  our  population  be  but  temporary  in  their 
duration,  and  if  it  were  otherwise  our  course  should  be 
the  same  for  the  time  is  yet,  I  hope,  far  distant  when  those 
intrusted  with  power  to  be  exercised  for  the  good  of  the 
whole  will  consider  it  either  honest  or  wise  to  purchase 
local  favors  at  the  sacrifice  of  principle  and  general  good. 

So  understanding  public  sentiment,  and  thoroughly  satis- 


Second  Annual  Message  99 

fied  that  the  best  interests  of  our  common  country  imperi- 
ously require  that  the  course  which  I  have  recommended  in 
this  regard  should  be  adopted,  I  have,  upon  the  most  ma- 
ture consideration,  determined  to  pursue  it. 

It  is  due  to  candor,  as  well  as  to  my  own  feelings,  that  I 
should  express  the  reluctance  and  anxiety  which  I  must  at 
all  times  experience  in  exercising  the  undoubted  right  of 
the  Executive  to  withhold  his  assent  from  bills  on  other 
grounds  than  their  constitutionality.  That  this  right  should 
not  be  exercised  on  slight  occasions  all  will  admit.  It  is 
only  in  matters  of  deep  interest,  when  the  principle  involved 
may  be  justly  regarded  as  next  in  importance  to  infractions 
of  the  Constitution  itself,  that  such  a  step  can  be  expected  to 
meet  with  the  approbation  of  the  people.  Such  an  occa- 
sion do  I  conscientiously  believe  the  present  to  be.  In  the 
discharge  of  this  delicate  and  highly  responsible  duty  I  am 
sustained  by  the  reflection  that  the  exercise  of  this  power 
has  been  deemed  consistent  with  the  obligation  of  official 
duty  by  several  of  my  predecessors,  and  by  the  persuasion, 
too,  that  whatever  liberal  institutions  may  have  to  fear  from 
the  encroachments  of  Executive  power,  which  has  been 
everywhere  the  cause  of  so  much  strife  and  bloody  conten- 
tion, but  little  danger  is  to  be  apprehended  from  a  precedent 
by  which  that  authority  denies  to  itself  the  exercise  of  pow- 
ers that  bring  in  their  train  influence  and  patronage  of  great 
extent,  and  thus  excludes  the  operation  of  personal  interests, 
everywhere  the  bane  of  official  trust.  I  derive,  too,  no  small 
degree  of  satisfaction  from  the  reflection  that  if  I  have  mis- 
taken the  interests  and  wishes  of  the  people  the  Constitution 
affords  the  means  of  soon  redressing  the  error  by  selecting 
for  the  place  their  favor  has  bestowed  upon  me  a  citizen 
whose  opinions  may  accord  with  their  own.  I  trust,  in  the 
meantime,  the  interests  of  the  nation  will  be  saved  from 
prejudice  by  a  rigid  application  of  that  portion  of  the  public 
funds  which  might  otherwise  be  applied  to  different  objects 
to  that  highest  of  all  our  obligations,  the  payment  of  the 
public  debt,  and  an  opportunity  be  afforded  for  the  adoption 
of  some  better  rule  for  the  operations  of  the  Government 


loo  Andrew  Jackson 

in  this  matter  than  any  which  has  hitherto  been  acted 
upon. 

Profoundly  impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  subject, 
not  merely  as  relates  to  the  general  prosperity  of  the  coun- 
try, but  to  the  safety  of  the  federal  system,  I  can  not  avoid 
repeating  my  earnest  hope  that  all  good  citizens  w^ho  take 
a  proper  interest  in  the  success  and  harmony  of  our  admir- 
able political  institutions,  and  who  are  incapable  of  desir- 
ing to  convert  an  opposite  state  of  things  into  means  for 
the  gratification  of  personal  ambition,  will,  laying  aside 
minor  considerations  and  discarding  local  prejudices,  unite 
their  honest  exertions  to  establish  some  fixed  general 
principle  which  shall  be  calculated  to  effect  the  greatest 
extent  of  public  good  in  regard  to  the  subject  of  internal 
improvement,  and  afford  the  least  ground  for  sectional 
discontent. 

The  general  grounds  of  my  objection  to  local  appropria- 
tions have  been  heretofore  expressed,  and  I  shall  endeavor 
to  avoid  a  repetition  of  what  has  been  already  urged — the 
importance  of  sustaining  the  State  sovereignties  as  far  as 
is  consistent  with  the  rightful  action  of  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment, and  of  preserving  the  greatest  attainable  harmony 
between  them.  I  will  now  only  add  an  expression  of  my 
conviction — a  conviction  which  every  day's  experience 
serves  to  confirm — that  the  political  creed  which  inculcates 
the  pursuit  of  those  great  objects  as  a  paramount  duty  is 
the  true  faith,  and  one  to  which  we  are  mainly  indebted  for 
the  present  success  of  the  entire  system,  and  to  which  we 
must  alone  look  for  its  future  stability. 

That  there  are  diversities  in  the  interests  of  the  different 
States  which  compose  this  extensive  Confederacy  must  be 
admitted.  Those  diversities  arising  from  situation,  climate, 
population,  and  pursuits  are  doubtless,  as  it  is  natural  they 
should  be,  greatly  exaggerated  by  jealousies  and  that  spirit 
of  rivalry  so  inseparable  from  neighboring  communities. 
These  circumstances  make  it  the  duty  of  those  who  are  in- 
trusted with  the  management  of  its  affairs  to  neutralize 
their  effects  as  far  as  practicable  by  making  the  beneficial 


Second   Annual  Message  loi 

operation  of  the  Federal  Government  as  equal  and  equitable 
among  the  several  States  as  can  be  done  consistently  with 
the  great  ends  of  its  institution. 

It  is  only  necessary  to  refer  to  undoubted  facts  to  see  how 
far  the  past  acts  of  the  Government  upon  the  subject  under 
consideration  have  fallen  short  of  this  object.  The  expend- 
itures heretofore  made  for  internal  improvements  amount 
to  upward  of  $5,000,000,  and  have  been  distributed  in  very 
unequal  proportions  amongst  the  States.  The  estimated 
expense  of  works  of  which  surveys  have  been  made,  to- 
gether with  that  of  others  projected  and  partially  surveyed, 
amounts  to  more  than  $96,000,000. 

That  such  improvements,  on  account  of  particular  cir- 
cumstances, may  be  more  advantageously  and  beneficially 
made  in  some  States  than  in  others  is  doubtless  true,  but 
that  they  are  of  a  character  which  should  prevent  an  equi- 
table distribution  of  the  funds  amongst  the  several  States  is 
not  to  be  conceded.  The  want  of  this  equitable  distribution 
can  not  fail  to  prove  a  prolific  source  of  irritation  among 
the  States, 

We  have  it  constantly  before  our  eyes  that  professions  of 
superior  zeal  in  the  cause  of  internal  improvement  and  a 
disposition  to  lavish  the  public  funds  upon  objects  of  this 
character  are  daily  and  earnestly  put  forth  by  aspirants  to 
power  as  constituting  the  highest  claims  to  the  confidence  of 
the  people.  Would  it  be  strange,  under  such  circumstances, 
and  in  times  of  great  excitement,  that  grants  of  this  de- 
scription should  find  their  motives  in  objects  which  may 
not  accord  with  the  public  good  ?  Those  who  have  not  had 
occasion  to  see  and  regret  the  indication  of  a  sinister  influ- 
ence in  these  matters  in  past  times  have  been  more  fortu- 
nate than  myself  in  their  observation  of  the  course  of  pub- 
lic affairs.  If  to  these  evils  be  added  the  combinations  and 
angry  contentions  to  which  such  a  course  of  things  gives 
rise,  with  their  baleful  influences  upon  the  legislation  of 
Congress  touching  the  leading  and  appropriate  duties  of  the 
Federal  Government,  it  was  but  doing  justice  to  the  char- 
acter of  our  people  to  expect  the  severe  condemnation  of 


I02  Andrew  Jackson 

the  past  which  the  recent  exhibitions  of  public  sentiment  has 
evinced. 

Nothing  short  of  a  radical  change  in  the  action  of  the 
Government  upon  the  subject  can,  in  my  opinion,  remedy 
the  evil.  If,  as  it  would  be  natural  to  expect,  the  States 
which  have  been  least  favored  in  past  appropriations  should 
insist  on  being  redressed  in  those  hereafter  to  be  made,  at 
the  expense  of  the  States  which  have  so  largely  and  dis- 
proportionately participated,  we  have,  as  matters  now  stand, 
but  little  security  that  the  attempt  would  do  more  than 
change  the  inequality  from  one  quarter  to  another. 

Thus  viewing  the  subject,  I  have  heretofore  felt  it  my 
duty  to  recommend  the  adoption  of  some  plan  for  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  surplus  funds,  which  may  at  any  time  re- 
main in  the  Treasury  after  the  national  debt  shall  have  been 
paid,  among  the  States,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
their  Representatives,  to  be  applied  by  them  to  objects  of 
internal  improvement. 

Although  this  plan  has  met  with  favor  in  some  portions 
of  the  Union,  it  has  also  elicited  objections  which  merit  de- 
liberate consideration.  A  brief  notice  of  these  objections 
here  will  not,  therefore,  I  trust,  be  regarded  as  out  of  place. 

They  rest,  as  far  as  they  have  come  to  my  knowledge,  on 
the  following  grounds :  First,  an  objection  to  the  ratio  of 
distribution;  second,  an  apprehension  that  the  existence  of 
such  a  regulation  would  produce  improvident  and  oppres- 
sive taxation  to  raise  the  funds  for  distribution;  third,  that 
the  mode  proposed  would  lead  to  the  construction  of  works 
of  a  local  nature,  to  the  exclusion  of  such  as  are  general  and 
as  would  consequently  be  of  a  more  useful  character;  and, 
last,  that  it  would  create  a  discreditable  and  injurious  de- 
pendence on  the  part  of  the  State  governments  upon  the 
Federal  power.  Of  those  who  object  to  the  ratio  of  rep- 
resentation as  the  basis  of  distribution,  some  insist  that  the 
importations  of  the  respective  States  would  constitute  one 
that  would  be  more  equitable;  and  others  again,  that  the 
extent  of  their  respective  territories  would  furnish  a  stand- 
ard which  would  be  more  expedient  and  sufficiently  equi- 


Second  Annual  Message  103 

table.  The  ratio  of  representation  presented  itself  to  my 
mind,  and  it  still  does,  as  one  of  obvious  equity,  because 
of  its  being  the  ratio  of  contribution,  whether  the  funds  to 
be  distributed  be  derived  from  the  customs  or  from  direct 
taxation.  It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  its  adoption  is 
indispensable  to  the  establishment  of  the  system  proposed. 
There  may  be  considerations  appertaining  to  the  subject 
which  would  render  a  departure,  to  some  extent,  from  the 
rule  of  contribution  proper.  Nor  is  it  absolutely  necessary 
that  the  basis  of  distribution  be  confined  to  one  ground.  It 
may,  if  in  the  judgment  of  those  whose  right  it  is  to  fix  it 
it  be  deemed  politic  and  just  to  give  it  that  character,  have 
regard  to  several. 

In  my  first  message  I  stated  it  to  be  my  opinion  that  "  it 
is  not  probable  that  any  adjustment  of  the  tariff  upon 
principles  satisfactory  to  the  people  of  the  Union  will  until 
a  remote  period,  if  ever,  leave  the  Government  without  a 
considerable  surplus  in  the  Treasury  beyond  what  may  be 
required  for  its  current  service."  I  have  had  no  cause  to 
change  that  opinion,  but  much  to  confirm  it.  Should  these 
expectations  be  realized,  a  suitable  fund  would  thus  be  pro- 
duced for  the  plan  under  consideration  to  operate  upon,  and 
if  there  be  no  such  fund  its  adoption  will,  in  my  opinion, 
work  no  injury  to  any  interest;  for  I  can  not  assent  to  the 
justness  of  the  apprehension  that  the  establishment  of  the 
proposed  system  would  tend  to  the  encouragement  of  im- 
provident legislation  of  the  character  supposed.  Whatever 
the  proper  authority  in  the  exercise  of  constitutional  power 
shall  at  any  time  hereafter  decide  to  be  for  the  general  good 
will  in  that  as  in  other  respects  deserve  and  receive  the  ac- 
quiescence and  support  of  the  whole  country,  and  we  have 
ample  security  that  every  abuse  of  power  in  that  regard  by 
agents  of  the  people  will  receive  a  speedy  and  effectual  cor- 
rective at  their  hands.  The  views  which  I  take  of  the  future, 
founded  on  the  obvious  and  increasing  improvement  of  all 
classes  of  our  fellow-citizens  in  intelligence  and  in  public 
and  private  virtue,  leave  me  without  much  apprehension  on 
that  head. 


I04  Andrew  Jackson 

I  do  not  doubt  that  those  Avho  come  after  us  will  be  as 
much  alive  as  we  are  to  the  obligation  upon  all  the  trustees 
of  political  power  to  exempt  those  for  whom  they  act  from 
all  unnecessary  burthens,  and  as  sensible  of  the  great  truth 
that  the  resources  of  the  nation  beyond  those  required  for 
immediate  and  necessary  purposes  of  Government  can  no- 
where be  so  well  deposited  as  in  the  pockets  of  the  people. 
It  may  sometimes  happen  that  the  interests  of  particular 
States  would  not  be  deemed  to  coincide  with  the  general 
interest  in  relation  to  improvements  within  such  States. 
But  if  the  danger  to  be  apprehended  from  this  source  is 
sufficient  to  require  it,  a  discretion  might  be  reserved  to 
Congress  to  direct  to  such  improvements  of  a  general  char- 
acter as  the  States  concerned  might  not  be  disposed  to  unite 
in,  the  application  of  the  quotas  of  those  States,  under  the 
restriction  of  confining  to  each  State  the  expenditure  of  its 
appropriate  quota.  It  may,  however,  be  assumed  as  a  safe 
general  rule  that  such  improvements  as  serve  to  increase 
ff  the  prosperity  of  the  respective  States  in  which  they  are 
\  made,  by  giving  new  facilities  to  trade,  and  thereby  aug- 
menting the  wealth  and  comfort  of  their  inhabitants,  con- 
stitute the  surest  mode  of  conferring  permanent  and  sub- 
stantial advantages  upon  the  whole.  The  strength  as  well 
as  the  true  glory  of  the  Confederacy  is  founded  on  the  pros- 
perity and  power  of  the  several  independent  sovereignties  of 
which  it  is  composed  and  the  certainty  with  which  they  can 
be  brought  into  successful  active  cooperation  through  the 
agency  of  the  Federal  Government. 

It  is,  morever,  within  the  knowledge  of  such  as  are  at 
all  conversant  with  public  affairs  that  schemes  of  internal 
improvement  have  from  time  to  time  been  proposed  which, 
/  from  their  extent  and  seeming  magnificence,  were  readily 
\  regarded  as  of  national  concernment,  but  which  upon  fuller 
consideration  and  further  experience  would  now  be  re- 
jected with  great  unanimity. 

That  the  plan  under  consideration  would  derive  impor- 
tant advantages  from  its  certainty,  and  that  the  moneys  set 
a]);irl  fur  these  purposes  would  be  more  judiciously  applied 


Second   Annual  Message  105 

and  economically  expended  under  the  direction  of  the  State 
legislatures,  in  which  every  part  of  each  State  is  immedi- 
ately represented,  can  not,  I  think,  be  doubted.  In  the  new 
States  particularly,  where  a  comparatively  small  population 
is  scattered  over  an  extensive  surface,  and  the  representa- 
tion in  Congress  consequently  very  limited,  it  is  natural  to 
expect  that  the  appropriations  made  by  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment would  be  more  likely  to  be  expended  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  those  members  through  whose  immediate  agency 
they  were  obtained  than  if  the  funds  were  placed  under  the 
control  of  the  legislature,  in  which  every  county  of  the 
State  has  its  own  representative.  This  supposition  does  not 
necessarily  impugn  the  motives  of  such  Congressional  rep- 
resentatives, nor  is  it  so  intended.  We  are  all  sensible  of 
the  bias  to  which  the  strongest  minds  and  purest  hearts  are, 
under  such  circumstances,  liable.  In  respect  to  the  last  ob- 
jection— its  probable  effect  upon  the  dignity  and  independ- 
ence of  State  governments — it  appears  to  me  only  necessary 
to  state  the  case  as  it  is,  and  as  it  would  be  if  the  meas- 
ure proposed  were  adopted,  to  show  that  the  operation  is 
most  likely  to  be  the  very  reverse  of  that  which  the  objec- 
tion supposes. 

In  the  one  case  the  State  would  receive  its  quota  of  the 
national  revenue  for  domestic  use  upon  a  fixed  principle  as 
a  matter  of  right,  and  from  a  fund  to  the  creation  of  which 
it  had  itself  contributed  its  fair  proportion.  Surely  there 
could  be  nothing  derogatory  in  that.  As  matters  now 
stand  the  States  themselves,  in  their  sovereign  character, 
are  not  unfrequently  petitioners  at  the  bar  of  the  Federal 
Legislature  for  such  allowances  out  of  the  National  Treas- 
ury as  it  may  comport  with  their  pleasure  or  sense  of  duty 
to  bestow  upon  them.  It  can  not  require  argument  to  prove 
which  of  the  two  courses  is  most  compatible  with  the  effi- 
ciency or  respectability  of  the  State  governments. 

But  all  these  are  matters  for  discussion  and  dispassionate 
consideration.  That  the  desired  adjustment  would  be  at- 
tended with  difficulty  affords  no  reason  why  it  should  not 
be   attempted.      The   effective   operation    of   such    motives 


io6  Andrew  Jackson 

would  have  prevented  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution 
under  which  we  have  so  long  lived  and  under  the  benign 
influence  of  which  our  beloved  country  has  so  signally  pros- 
pered. The  framers  of  that  sacred  instrument  had  greater 
difficulties  to  overcome,  and  they  did  overcome  them.  The 
patriotism  of  the  people,  directed  by  a  deep  conviction  of 
the  importance  of  the  Union,  produced  mutual  concession 
and  reciprocal  forbearance.  Strict  right  was  merged  in  a 
spirit  of  compromise,  and  the  result  has  consecrated  their 
disinterested  devotion  to  the  general  weal.  Unless  the 
American  people  have  degenerated,  the  same  result  can  be 
again  effected  whenever  experience  points  out  the  necessity 
of  a  resort  to  the  same  means  to  uphold  the  fabric  which 
their  fathers  have  reared.  It  is  beyond  the  power  of  man 
to  make  a  system  of  government  like  ours  or  any  other 
operate  with  precise  equality  upon  States  situated  like  those 
which  compose  this  Confederacy;  nor  is  inequality  always 
injustice.  Every  State  can  not  expect  to  shape  the  meas- 
ures of  the  General  Government  to  suit  its  own  particular 
interests.  The  causes  which  prevent  it  are  seated  in  the 
nature  of  things,  and  can  not  be  entirely  counteracted  by 
human  means.  Mutual  forbearance  becomes,  therefore,  a 
duty  obligatory  upon  all,  and  we  may,  I  am  confident,  count 
upon  a  cheerful  compliance  with  this  high  injunction  on  the 
part  of  our  constituents.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  they 
will  object  to  make  such  comparatively  inconsiderable  sac- 
rifices for  the  preservation  of  rights  and  privileges  which 
other  less  favored  portions  of  the  world  have  in  vain  waded 
through  seas  of  blood  to  acquire. 

Our  course  is  a  safe  one  if  it  be  but  faithfully  adhered  to. 
Acquiescence  in  the  constitutionally  expressed  will  of  the 
majority,  and  the  exercise  of  that  will  in  a  spirit  of  modera- 
tion, justice,  and  brotherly  kindness,  will  constitute  a  ce- 
ment which  would  forever  preserve  our  Union.  Those  who 
cherish  and  inculcate  sentiments  like  these  render  a  most 
essential  service  to  their  country,  while  those  who  seek  to 
weaken  their  influence  are,  however  conscientious  and 
praiseworthy  their  intentions,  in  effect  its  worst  enemies. 


Second  Annual  Message  107 

If  the  intelligence  and  influence  of  the  country,  instead 
of  laboring  to  foment  sectional  prejudices,  to  be  made  sub- 
servient to  party  warfare,  were  in  good  faith  applied  to  the 
eradication  of  causes  of  local  discontent,  by  the  improve- 
ment of  our  institutions  and  by  facilitating  their  adaptation 
to  the  condition  of  the  times,  this  task  would  prove  one  of 
less  difficulty.  May  we  not  hope  that  the  obvious  interests 
of  our  common  country  and  the  dictates  of  an  enlightened 
patriotism  will  in  the  end  lead  the  public  mind  in  that  di- 
rection ? 

After  all,  the  nature  of  the  subject  does  not  admit  of  a 
plan  wholly  free  from  objection.  That  which  has  for  some 
time  been  in  operation  is,  perhaps,  the  worst  that  could 
exist,  and  every  advance  that  can  be  made  in  its  improve- 
ment is  a  matter  eminently  worthy  of  your  most  deliberate 
attention. 

It  is  very  possible  that  one  better  calculated  to  effect  the 
objects  in  view  may  yet  be  devised.  If  so,  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  those  who  disapprove  the  past  and  dissent  from  what 
is  proposed  for  the  future  will  feel  it  their  duty  to  direct 
their  attention  to  it,  as  they  must  be  sensible  that  unless 
some  fixed  rule  for  the  action  of  the  Federal  Government 
in  this  respect  is  established  the  course  now  attempted  to 
be  arrested  will  be  again  resorted  to.  Any  mode  which  is 
calculated  to  give  the  greatest  degree  of  effect  and  harmony 
to  our  legislation  upon  the  subject,  which  shall  best  serve 
to  keep  the  movements  of  the  Federal  Government  within 
the  sphere  intended  by  those  who  modeled  and  those  who 
adopted  it,  which  shall  lead  to  the  extinguishment  of  the 
national  debt  in  the  shortest  period  and  impose  the  lightest 
burthens  upon  our  constituents,  shall  receive  from  me  a 
cordial  and  firm  support. 

Among  the  objects  of  great  national  concern  I  can  not 
omit  to  press  again  upon  your  attention  that  part  of  the 
Constitution  which  regulates  the  election  of  President  and 
Vice-President.  The  necessity  for  its  amendment  is  made 
so  clear  to  my  mind  by  observation  of  its  evils  and  by  the 
many  able  discussions  which  they  have  elicited  on  the  floor 


io8  Andrew  Jackson 

of  Congress  and  elsewhere  that  I  should  be  wanting  to  my 
duty  were  I  to  withhold  another  expression  of  my  deep  so- 
licitude on  the  subject.  Our  system  fortunately  contem- 
plates a  recurrence  to  first  principles,  differing  in  this  re- 
spect from  all  that  have  preceded  it,  and  securing  it,  I  trust, 
equally  against  the  decay  and  the  commotions  which  have 
marked  the  progress  of  other  governments.  Our  fellow- 
citizens,  too,  who  in  proportion  to  their  love  of  liberty  keep 
a  steady  eye  upon  the  means  of  sustaining  it,  do  not  re- 
quire to  be  reminded  of  the  duty  they  owe  to  themselves  to 
remedy  all  essential  defects  in  so  vital  a  part  of  their  sys- 
tem. While  they  are  sensible  that  every  evil  attendant  upon 
its  operation  is  not  necessarily  indicative  of  a  bad  organi- 
zation, but  may  proceed  from  temporary  causes,  yet  the  ha- 
bitual presence,  or  even  a  single  instance,  of  evils  which  can 
be  clearly  traced  to  an  organic  defect  will  not,  I  trust,  be 
overlooked  through  a  too  scrupulous  veneration  for  the 
work  of  their  ancestors.  The  Constitution  was  an  experi- 
ment committed  to  the  virtue  and  intelligence  of  the  great 
mass  of  our  countrymen,  in  whose  ranks  the  framers  of  it 
themselves  were  to  perform  the  part  of  patriotic  observa- 
•tion  and  scrutiny,  and  if  they  have  passed  from  the  stage  of 
existence  with  an  increased  confidence  in  its  general  adapta- 
tion to  our  condition  we  should  learn  from  authority  so  high 
the  duty  of  fortifying  the  points  in  it  which  time  proves  to 
be  exposed  rather  than  be  deterred  from  approaching  them 
by  the  suggestions  of  fear  or  the  dictates  of  misplaced  rev- 
erence. 

A  provision  w'hich  does  not  secure  to  the  people  a  direct 
choice  of  their  Chief  Magistrate,  but  has  a  tendency  to  de- 
feat their  will,  presented  to  my  mind  such  an  inconsistency 
with  the  general  spirit  of  our  institutions  that  I  was  induced 
to  suggest  for  your  consideration  the  substitute  which  ap- 
peared to  me  at  the  same  time  the  most  likely  to  correct  the 
evil  and  to  meet  the  views  of  our  constituents.  The  most 
mature  reflection  since  has  added  strength  to  the  belief  that 
the  best  interests  of  our  country  require  the  speedy  adoption 
of  some  plan  calculated  to  effect  this  end.     A  contingency 


Second  Annual  Message  109 

which  sometimes  places  it  in  the  power  of  a  single  member 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  to  decide  an  election  of  so 
high  and  solemn  a  character  is  unjust  to  the  people,  and  be- 
comes when  it  occurs  a  source  of  embarrassment  to  the  in- 
dividuals thus  brought  into  power  and  a  cause  of  distrust 
of  the  representative  body.  Liable  as  the  Confederacy  is, 
from  its  great  extent,  to  parties  founded  upon  sectional  in- 
terests, and  to  a  corresponding  multiplication  of  candidates 
for  the  Presidency,  the  tendency  of  the  constitutional  ref- 
erence to  the  House  of  Representatives  is  to  devolve  the 
election  upon  that  body  in  almost  every  instance,  and,  what- 
ever choice  may  then  be  made  among  the  candidates  thus 
presented  to  them,  to  swell  the  influence  of  particular  in- 
terests to  a  degree  inconsistent  with  the  general  good.  The 
consequences  of  this  feature  of  the  Constitution  appear  far 
more  threatening  to  the  peace  and  integrity  of  the  Union 
than  any  which  I  can  conceive  as  likely  to  result  from  the 
simple  legislative  action  of  the  Federal  Government. 

It  was  a  leading  object  with  the  framers  of  the  Consti- 
tution to  keep  as  separate  as  possible  the  action  of  the  legis- 
lative and  executive  branches  of  the  Government.  To  se- 
cure this  object  nothing  is  more  essential  than  to  preserve 
the  former  from  all  temptations  of  private  interest,  and 
therefore  so  to  direct  the  patronage  of  the  latter  as  not  to 
permit  such  temptations  to  be  offered.  Experience  abun- 
dantly demonstrates  that  every  precaution  in  this  respect  is 
a  valuable  safeguard  of  liberty,  and  one  which  my  reflec- 
tions upon  the  tendencies  of  our  system  incline  me  to  think 
should  be  made  still  stronger.  It  was  for  this  reason  that, 
in  connection  with  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution  re- 
moving all  intermediate  agency  in  the  choice  of  the  Presi- 
dent, I  recommended  some  restrictions  upon  the  reeligi- 
bility  of  that  officer  and  upon  the  tenure  of  offices  gen- 
erally. The  reason  still  exists,  and  I  renew  the  recom- 
mendation with  an  increased  confidence  that  its  adoption 
will  strengthen  those  checks  by  which  the  Constitu- 
tion designed  to  secure  the  independence  of  each  depart- 
ment of  the  Government  and  promote  the  healthful  and 


1 1  o  Andrew  Jackson 

equitable  administration  of  all  the  trusts  which  it  has  cre- 
ated. The  agent  most  likely  to  contravene  this  design  of 
the  Constitution  is  the  Chief  Magistrate.  In  order,  particu- 
larly, that  his  appointment  may  as  far  as  possible  be  placed 
beyond  the  reach  of  any  improper  influences ;  in  order  that 
he  may  approach  the  solemn  responsibilities  of  the  highest 
office  in  the  gift  of  a  free  people  uncommitted  to  any  other 
course  than  the  strict  line  of  constitutional  duty,  and  that 
the  securities  for  this  independence  may  be  rendered  as 
strong  as  the  nature  of  power  and  the  weakness  of  its  pos- 
sessor will  admit,  I  can  not  too  earnestly  invite  your  at- 
tention to  the  propriety  of  promoting  such  an  amendment 
of  the  Constitution  as  will  render  him  ineligible  after  one 
term  of  service. 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  announce  to  Congress  that  the 
benevolent  policy  of  the  Government,  steadily  pursued  for 
nearly  thirty  years,  in  relation  to  the  removal  of  the  Indians 
beyond  the  white  settlements  is  approaching  to  a  happy  con- 
summation. Two  important  tribes  have  accepted  the  pro- 
vision made  for  their  removal  at  the  last  session  of  Con- 
gress, and  it  is  believed  that  their  example  will  induce  the 
remaining  tribes  also  to  seek  the  same  obvious  advantages. 

The  consequence  of  a  speedy  removal  will  be  important 
to  the  United  States,  to  individual  States,  and  to  the  In- 
dians themselves.  The  pecuniary  advantages  which  it 
promises  to  the  Government  are  the  least  of  its  recommen- 
dations. It  puts  an  end  to  all  possible  danger  of  collision 
between  the  authorities  of  the  General  and  State  Govern- 
ments on  account  of  the  Indians.  It  will  place  a  dense  and 
civilized  population  in  large  tracts  of  country  now  occupied 
by  a  few  savage  hunters.  By  opening  the  whole  territory 
between  Tennessee  on  the  north  and  Louisiana  on  the  south 
to  the  settlement  of  the  whites  it  will  incalculably  strengthen 
the  southwestern  frontier  and  render  the  adjacent  States 
strong  enough  to  repel  future  invasions  without  remote  aid. 
It  will  relieve  the  whole  State  of  Mississippi  and  the  west- 
ern part  of  Alabama  of  Indian  occupancy,  and  enable  those 
States  to  advance  rapidly  in  population,  wealth,  and  power. 


Second  Annual  Message  m 

It  will  separate  the  Indians  from  immediate  contact  with 
settlements  of  whites ;  free  them  from  the  power  of  the 
States;  enable  them  to  pursue  happiness  in  their  own  way 
and  under  their  own  rude  institutions ;  will  retard  the  prog- 
ress of  decay,  which  is  lessening  their  numbers,  and  perhaps 
cause  them  gradually,  under  the  protection  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  through  the  influence  of  good  counsels,  to  cast  off 
their  savage  habits  and  become  an  interesting,  civilized,  and 
Christian  community.  These  consequences,  some  of  them 
so  certain  and  the  rest  so  probable,  make  the  complete  exe- 
cution of  the  plan  sanctioned  by  Congress  at  their  last  ses- 
sion an  object  of  much  solicitude. 

Toward  the  aborigines  of  the  country  no  one  can  indulge 
a  more  friendly  feeling  than  myself,  or  would  go  further  in 
attempting  to  reclaim  them  from  their  wandering  habits 
and  make  them  a  happy,  prosperous  people.  I  have  en- 
deavored to  impress  upon  them  my  own  solemn  convictions 
of  the  duties  and  powers  of  the  General  Government  in  re- 
lation to  the  State  authorities.  For  the  justice  of  the  laws 
passed  by  the  States  within  the  scope  of  their  reserved  pow- 
ers they  are  not  responsible  to  this  Government.  As  indi- 
viduals we  may  entertain  and  express  our  opinions  of  their 
acts,  but  as  a  Government  we  have  as  little  right  to  control 
them  as  we  have  to  prescribe  laws  for  other  nations. 

With  a  full  understanding  of  the  subject,  the  Choctaw 
and  the  Chickasaw  tribes  have  with  great  unanimity  deter- 
mined to  avail  themselves  of  the  liberal  offers  presented  by 
the  act  of  Congress,  and  have  agreed  to  remove  beyond  the 
Mississippi  River.  Treaties  have  been  made  with  them, 
which  in  due  season  will  be  submitted  for  consideration. 
In  negotiating  these  treaties  they  were  made  to  understand 
their  true  condition,  and  they  have  preferred  maintaining 
their  independence  in  the  Western  forests  to  submitting  to 
the  laws  of  the  States  in  which  they  now  reside.  These 
treaties,  being  probably  the  last  which  will  ever  be  made 
with  them,  are  characterized  by  great  liberality  on  the  part 
of  the  Government.  They  give  the  Indians  a  liberal  sum 
in  consideration  of  their  removal,  and  comfortable  subsist- 


1 1  2  Andrew  Jackson 

cnce  on  their  arrival  at  their  new  homes.  If  it  be  their  real 
interest  to  maintain  a  separate  existence,  they  will  there  be 
at  liberty  to  do  so  without  the  inconveniences  and  vexations 
to  which  they  would  unavoidably  have  been  subject  in  Ala- 
bama and  Mississippi. 

Humanity  has  often  wept  over  the  fate  of  the  aborigines 
of  this  country,  and  Philanthropy  has  been  long  busily  em- 
ployed in  devising  means  to  avert  it,  but  its  progress  has 
never  for  a  moment  been  arrested,  and  one  by  one  have 
many  powerful  tribes  disappeared  from  the  earth.  To  fol- 
low to  the  tomb  the  last  of  his  race  and  to  tread  on  the 
graves  of  extinct  nations  excite  melancholy  reflections.  But 
true  philanthropy  reconciles  the  mind  to  these  vicissitudes 
as  it  does  to  the  extinction  of  one  generation  to  make  room 
for  another.  In  the  monuments  and  fortresses  of  an  un- 
known people,  spread  over  the  extensive  regions  of  the 
West,  we  behold  the  memorials  of  a  once  powerful  race, 
which  was  exterminated  or  has  disappeared  to  make  room 
for  the  existing  savage  tribes.  Nor  is  there  anything  in 
this  which,  upon  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  general  in- 
terests of  the  human  race,  is  to  be  regretted.  Philanthropy 
could  not  wish  to  see  this  continent  restored  to  the  con- 
dition in  which  it  was  found  by  our  forefathers.  What 
good  man  would  prefer  a  country  covered  with  forests  and 
ranged  by  a  few  thousand  savages  to  our  extensive  Re- 
public, studded  with  cities,  towns,  and  prosperous  farms, 
embellished  with  all  the  improvements  w^hich  art  can  de- 
vise or  industry  execute,  occupied  by  more  than  12,000,000 
happy  people,  and  filled  with  all  the  blessings  of  liberty, 
civilization,  and  religion? 

The  present  policy  of  the  Government  is  but  a  continua- 
tion of  the  same  progressive  change  by  a  milder  process. 
The  tribes  which  occupied  the  countries  now  constituting 
the  Eastern  States  were  annihilated  or  have  melted  away  to 
make  room  for  the  whites.  The  waves  of  population  and 
civilization  are  rolling  to  the  westward,  and  we  now  pro- 
pose to  acquire  the  countries  occupied  by  the  red  men  of 
the  South  and  West  by  a  fair  exchange,  and,  at  the  expense 


Second   Annual   Message  1 1 3 

of  the  United  States,  to  send  them  to  a  land  where  their 
existence  may  be  prolonged  and  perhaps  made  perpetual. 
Doubtless  it  will  be  painful  to  leave  the  graves  of  their 
fathers;  but  what  do  they  more  than  our  ancestors  did  or 
than  our  children  are  now  doing?  To  better  their  condition 
in  an  unknown  land  our  forefathers  left  all  that  w^as  dear 
in  earthly  objects.  Our  children  by  thousands  yearly  leave 
the  land  of  their  birth  to  seek  new  homes  in  distant  regions. 
Does  Humanity  weep  at  these  painful  separations  from 
everything,  animate  and  inanimate,  with  which  the  young 
heart  has  become  entwined?  Far  from  it.  It  is  rather  a 
source  of  joy  that  our  country  affords  scope  where  our 
young  population  may  range  unconstrained  in  body  or  in 
mind,  developing  the  power  and  faculties  of  man  in  their 
highest  perfection.  These  remove  hundreds  and  almost 
thousands  of  miles  at  their  own  expense,  purchase  the  lands 
they  occupy,  and  support  themselves  at  their  new  homes 
from  the  moment  of  their  arrival.  Can  it  be  cruel  in  this 
Government  when,  by  events  which  it  can  not  control,  the 
Indian  is  made  discontented  in  his  ancient  home  to  purchase 
his  lands,  to  give  him  a  new  and  extensive  territory,  to  pay 
the  expense  of  his  removal,  and  support  him  a  year  in  his 
new  abode?  How  many  thousands  of  our  own  people 
would  gladly  embrace  the  opportunity  of  removing  to  the 
West  on  such  conditions !  If  the  offers  made  to  the  Indians 
were  extended  to  them,  they  would  be  hailed  with  gratitude 
and  joy. 

And  is  it  supposed  that  the  wandering  savage  has  a 
stronger  attachment  to  his  home  than  the  settled,  civilized 
Christian?  Is  it  more  afflicting  to  him  to  leave  the  graves 
of  his  fathers  than  it  is  to  our  brothers  and  children? 
Rightly  considered,  the  policy  of  the  General  Government 
toward  the  red  man  is  not  only  liberal,  but  generous.  He 
is  unwilling  to  submit  to  the  laws  of  the  States  and  mingle 
with  their  population.  To  save  him  from  this  alternative, 
or  perhaps  utter  annihilation,  the  General  Government 
kindly  offers  him  a  new  home,  and  proposes  to  pay  the 
whole  expense  of  his  removal  and  settlement. 


114  Andrew  Jackson 

In  the  consummation  of  a  policy  originating  at  an  early 
period,  and  steadily  pursued  by  every  Administration  with- 
in the  present  century — so  just  to  the  States  and  so  gen- 
erous to  the  Indians — the  Executive  feels  it  has  a  right  to 
expect  the  cooperation  of  Congress  and  of  all  good  and  dis- 
interested men.  The  States,  moreover,  have  a  right  to  de- 
mand it.  It  was  substantially  a  part  of  the  compact  which 
made  them  members  of  our  Confederacy.  With  Georgia 
there  is  an  express  contract;  with  the  new  States  an  im- 
plied one  of  equal  obligation.  Why,  in  authorizing  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Mississippi,  and  Alabama  to 
form  constitutions  and  become  separate  States,  did  Con- 
gress include  within  their  limits  extensive  tracts  of  Indian 
lands,  and,  in  some  instances,  powerful  Indian  tribes?  Was 
it  not  understood  by  both  parties  that  the  power  of  the  States 
was  to  be  coextensive  with  their  limits,  and  that  with  all 
convenient  dispatch  the  General  Government  should  extin- 
guish the  Indian  title  and  remove  every  obstruction  to  the 
complete  jurisdiction  of  the  State  governments  over  the 
soil  ?  Probably  not  one  of  those  States  would  have  accepted 
a  separate  existence — certainly  it  would  never  have  been 
granted  by  Congress — had  it  been  understood  that  they 
were  to  be  confined  forever  to  those  small  portions  of  their 
nominal  territory  the  Indian  title  to  which  had  at  the  time 
been  extinguished. 

It  is,  therefore,  a  duty  which  this  Government  owes  to 
the  new  States  to  extinguish  as  soon  as  possible  the  Indian 
title  to  all  lands  which  Congress  themselves  have  included 
within  their  limits.  When  this  is  done  the  duties  of  the 
General  Government  in  relation  to  the  States  and  the  In- 
dians within  their  limits  are  at  an  end.  The  Indians  may 
leave  the  State  or  not,  as  they  choose.  The  purchase  of 
their  lands  does  not  alter  in  the  least  their  personal  rela- 
tions with  the  State  government.  No  act  of  the  General 
Government  has  ever  been  deemed  necessary  to  give  the 
States  jurisdiction  over  the  persons  of  the  Indians.  That 
they  possess  by  virtue  of  their  sovereign  power  within  their 
own  limits  in  as  full  a  manner  before  as  after  the  purchase 


Second  Annual  Message  nS 

of  the  Indian  lands;  nor  can  this  Government  add  to  or 
diminish  it. 

May  we  not  hope,  therefore,  that  all  good  citizens,  and 
none  more  zealously  than  those  who  think  the  Indians  op- 
pressed by  subjection  to  the  laws  of  the  States,  will  unite  in 
attempting  to  open  the  eyes  of  those  children  of  the  forest 
to  their  true  condition,  and  by  a  speedy  removal  to  relieve 
them  from  all  the  evils,  real  or  imaginary,  present  or  pros- 
pective, with  which  they  may  be  supposed  to  be  threatened. 

Among  the  numerous  causes  of  congratulation  the  condi- 
tion of  our  impost  revenue  deserves  special  mention,  inas- 
much as  it  promises  the  means  of  extinguishing  the  public 
debt  sooner  than  was  anticipated,  and  furnishes  a  strong 
illustration  of  the  practical  effects  of  the  present  tariff  upon 
our  commercial  interests. 

The  object  of  the  tariff  is  objected  to  by  some  as  un- 
constitutional, and  it  is  considered  by  almost  all  as  defec- 
tive in  many  of  its  parts. 

The  power  to  impose  duties  on  imports  originally  be- 
longed to  the  several  States.  The  right  to  adjust  those 
duties  with  a  view  to  the  encouragement  of  domestic 
branches  of  industry  is  so  completely  incidental  to  that 
power  that  it  is  difficult  to  suppose  the  existence  of  the  one 
without  the  other.  The  States  have  delegated  their  whole 
authority  over  imports  to  the  General  Government  without 
limitation  or  restriction,  saving  the  very  inconsiderable  res- 
ervation relating  to  their  inspection  laws.  This  authority 
having  thus  entirely  passed  from  the  States,  the  right  to 
exercise  it  for  the  purpose  of  protection  does  not  exist  in 
them,  and  consequently  if  it  be  not  possessed  by  the  Gen- 
eral Government  it  must  be  extinct.  Our  political  system 
would  thus  present  the  anomaly  of  a  people  stripped  of  the 
right  to  foster  their  own  industry  and  to  counteract  the 
most  selfish  and  destructive  policy  which  might  be  adopted 
by  foreign  nations.  This  surely  can  not  be  the  case.  This 
indispensable  power  thus  surrendered  by  the  States  must 
be  within  the  scope  of  the  authority  on  the  subject  expressly 
delegated  to  Congress. 


ii6  Andrew  Jackson 

In  this  conclusion  I  am  confirmed  as  well  by  the  opin- 
ions of  Presidents  Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison,  and 
Monroe,  who  have  each  repeatedly  recommended  the  exer- 
cise of  this  right  under  the  Constitution,  as  by  the  uniform 
practice  of  Congress,  the  continued  acquiescence  of  the 
States,  and  the  general  understanding  of  the  people. 

The  difficulties  of  a  more  expedient  adjustment  of  the 
present  tariff,  although  great,  are  far  from  being  insur- 
mountable. Some  are  unwilling  to  improve  any  of  its  parts 
because  they  would  destroy  the  whole ;  others  fear  to  touch 
the  objectionable  parts  lest  those  they  approve  should  be 
jeoparded.  I  am  persuaded  that  the  advocates  of  these  con- 
flicting views  do  injustice  to  the  American  people  and  to 
their  representatives.  The  general  interest  is  the  interest 
of  each,  and  my  confidence  is  entire  that  to  insure  the 
adoption  of  such  modifications  of  the  tariff  as  the  general 
interest  requires  it  is  only  necessary  that  that  interest  should 
be  understood. 

It  is  an  infirmity  of  our  nature  to  mingle  our  interests 
and  prejudices  with  the  operation  of  our  reasoning  powers, 
and  attribute  to  the  objects  of  our  likes  and  dislikes  quali- 
ties they  do  not  possess  and  effects  they  can  not  produce. 
The  effects  of  the  present  tariff  are  doubtless  overrated, 
both  in  its  evil  and  in  its  advantages.  By  one  class  of  rea- 
soners  the  reduced  price  of  cotton  and  other  agricultural 
products  is  ascribed  wholly  to  its  influence,  and  by  another 
the  reduced  price  of  manufactured  articles.  The  probabil- 
ity is  that  neither  opinion  approaches  the  truth,  and  that 
both  are  induced  by  that  influence  of  interests  and  preju- 
dices to  which  I  have  referred.  The  decrease  of  prices  ex- 
tends throughout  the  commercial  world,  embracing  not  only 
the  raw  material  and  the  manufactured  article,  but  provi- 
sions and  lands.  The  cause  must  therefore  be  deeper  and 
more  pervading  than  the  tariff  of  the  United  States.  It 
may  in  a  measure  be  attributable  to  the  increased  value  of 
the  precious  metals,  produced  by  a  diminution  of  the  supply 
and  an  increase  in  the  demand,  while  commerce  has  rapidly 
extended  itself  and  population  has  augmented.     The  supply 


Second   Annual  Message  117 

of  gold  and  silver,  the  general  medium  of  exchange,  has 
been  greatly  interrupted  by  civil  convulsions  in  the  coun- 
tries from  which  they  are  principally  drawn.  A  part  of  the 
effect,  too,  is  doubtless  owing  to  an  increase  of  operatives 
and  improvements  in  machinery.  But  on  the  whole  it  is 
questionable  whether  the  reduction  in  the  price  of  lands, 
produce,  and  manufactures  has  been  greater  than  the  ap- 
preciation of  the  standard  of  value. 

While  the  chief  object  of  duties  should  be  revenue,  they 
may  be  so  adjusted  as  to  encourage  manufactures.  In  this 
adjustment,  however,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Government  to 
be  guided  by  the  general  good.  Objects  of  national  impor- 
tance alone  ought  to  be  protected.  Of  these  the  productions 
of  our  soil,  our  mines,  and  our  workshops,  essential  to  na- 
tional defense,  occupy  the  first  rank.  Whatever  other  spe- 
cies of  domestic  industry,  having  the  importance  to  which  I 
have  referred,  may  be  expected,  after  temporary  protection, 
to  compete  with  foreign  labor  on  equal  terms  merit  the  same 
attention  in  a  subordinate  degree. 

The  present  tariff  taxes  some  of  the  comforts  of  life  un- 
necessarily high ;  it  undertakes  to  protect  interests  too  local 
and  minute  to  justify  a  general  exaction,  and  it  also  at- 
tempts to  force  some  kinds  of  manufactures  for  which  the 
country  is  not  ripe.  Much  relief  will  be  derived  in  some 
of  these  respects  from  the  measures  of  your  last  session. 

The  best  as  well  as  fairest  mode  of  determining  whether 
from  any  just  considerations  a  particular  interest  ought  to 
receive  protection  would  be  to  submit  the  question  singly 
for  deliberation.  If  after  due  examination  of  its  merits,  un- 
connected with  extraneous  considerations — such  as  a  desire 
to  sustain  a  general  system  or  to  purchase  support  for  a 
different  interest — it  should  enlist  in  its  favor  a  majority  of 
the  representatives  of  the  people,  there  can  be  little  danger 
of  wrong  or  injury  in  adjusting  the  tariff  with  reference  to 
its  protective  effect.  If  this  obviously  just  principle  were 
honestly  adhered  to,  the  branches  of  industry  which  de- 
serve protection  would  be  saved  from  the  prejudice  excited 
against  them  when  that  protection  forms  part  of  a  system 


iiB  Andrew  Jackson 


by  which  portions  of  the  country  feel  or  conceive  them- 
selves to  be  oppressed.  What  is  incalculably  more  impor- 
tant, the  vital  principle  of  our  system — that  principle  which 
requires  acquiescence  in  the  will  of  the  majority — would  be 
secure  from  the  discredit  and  danger  to  which  it  is  exposed 
by  the  acts  of  majorities  founded  not  on  identity  of  con- 
viction, but  on  combinations  of  small  minorities  en- 
tered into  for  the  purpose  of  mutual  assistance  in  measures 
which  resting  solely  on  their  own  merits,  could  never  be 
carried. 

I  am  well  aware  that  this  is  a  subject  of  so  much  deli- 
cacy, on  account  of  the  extended  interests  it  involves,  as 
to  require  that  it  should  be  touched  wath  the  utmost  cau- 
tion, and  that  while  an  abandonment  of  the  policy  in  which 
it  originated — a  policy  coeval  with  our  Government,  and 
pursued  through  successive  Administrations — is  neither  to 
be  expected  or  desired,  the  people  have  a  right  to  demand, 
and  have  demanded,  that  it  be  so  modified  as  to  correct 
abuses  and  obviate  injustice. 

That  our  deliberations  on  this  interesting  subject  should 
be  uninfluenced  by  those  partisan  conflicts  that  are  incident 
to  free  institutions  is  the  fervent  wish  of  my  heart.  To 
make  this  great  question,  which  unhappily  so  much  divides 
and  excites  the  public  mind,  subservient  to  the  short-sighted 
views  of  faction  must  destroy  all  hope  of  settling  it  satis- 
factorily to  the  great  body  of  the  people  and  for  the  gen- 
eral interest.  I  can  not,  therefore,  in  taking  leave  of  the 
subject,  too  earnestly  for  my  own  feelings  or  the  common 
good  warn  you  against  the  blighting  consequences  of  such 
a  course. 

According  to  the  estimates  at  the  Treasury  Department, 
the  receipts  in  the  Treasury  during  the  present  year  will 
amount  to  $24,161,018,  which  will  exceed  by  about 
$300,000  the  estimate  presented  in  the  last  annual  report 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  The  total  expenditure 
during  the  year,  exclusive  of  public  debt,  is  estimated  at 
?' 3742.31 1,  and  the  payment  on  account  of  public  debt  for 
the  same  period  will  have  been  $11,354,630,  leaving  a  bal- 


Second   Annual  Message  119 

ance  in  the  Treasury  on  the  ist  of  January,  1831,  of  $4,- 
819,781. 

In  connection  with  the  condition  of  our  finances,  it  af- 
fords me  pleasure  to  remark  that  judicious  and  efficient  ar- 
rangements have  been  made  by  the  Treasury  Department 
for  securing  the  pecuniary  responsibihty  of  the  pubHc  offi- 
cers and  the  more  punctual  payment  of  the  public  dues. 
The  Revenue-Cutter  Service  has  been  organized  and  placed 
on  a  good  footing,  and  aided  by  an  increase  of  inspectors  at 
exposed  points,  and  regulations  adopted  under  the  act  of 
May,  1830,  for  the  inspection  and  appraisement  of  mer- 
chandise, has  produced  much  improvement  in  the  execution 
of  the  laws  and  more  security  against  the  commission  of 
frauds  upon  the  revenue.  Abuses  in  the  allowances  for 
fishing  bounties  have  also  been  corrected,  and  a  material 
saving  in  that  branch  of  the  service  thereby  effected.  In 
addition  to  these  improvements  the  system  of  expenditure 
for  sick  seamen  belonging  to  the  merchant  service  has  been 
revised,  and  being  rendered  uniform  and  economical  the 
benefits  of  the  fund  applicable  to  this  object  have  been  use- 
fully extended. 

The  prosperity  of  our  country  is  also  further  evinced  by 
the  increased  revenue  arising  from  the  sale  of  public  lands, 
as  will  appear  from  the  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  the 
General  Land  Office  and  the  documents  accompanying  it, 
which  are  herewith  transmitted.  I  beg  leave  to  draw  your 
attention  to  this  report,  and  to  the  propriety  of  making 
early  appropriations  for  the  objects  which  it  specifies. 

Your  attention  is  again  invited  to  the  subjects  connected 
with  that  portion  of  the  public  interests  intrusted  to  the 
War  Department.  Some  of  them  were  referred  to  in  my 
former  message,  and  they  are  presented  in  detail  in  the  re- 
port of  the  Secretary  of  War  herewith  submitted.  I  refer 
you  also  to  the  report  of  that  officer  for  a  knowledge  of  the 
state  of  the  Army,  fortifications,  arsenals,  and  Indian  af- 
fairs, all  of  which  it  will  be  perceived  have  been  guarded 
with  zealous  attention  and  care.  It  is  worthy  of  your  con- 
sideration whether  the  armaments  necessary  for  the  fortifi- 


I20  Andrew  Jackson 

cations  on  our  maritime  frontier  which  are  now  or  shortly 
will  be  completed  should  not  be  in  readiness  sooner  than 
the  customary  appropriations  will  enable  the  Department 
to  provide  them.  This  precaution  seems  to  be  due  to  the 
general  system  of  fortification  which  has  been  sanctioned  by 
Cung-ress,  and  is  recommended  by  that  maxim  of  wisdom 
which  tells  us  in  peace  to  prepare  for  war. 

I  refer  you  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
for  a  highly  satisfactory  account  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  concerns  of  that  Department  have  been  conducted  dur- 
ing the  present  year.  Our  position  in  relation  to  the  most 
powerful  nations  of  the  earth,  and  the  present  condition  of 
Europe,  admonish  us  to  cherish  this  arm  of  our  national 
defense  with  peculiar  care.  Separated  by  wide  seas  from 
all  those  Governments  whose  power  we  might  have  reason 
to  dread,  we  have  nothing  to  apprehend  from  attempts  at 
conquest.  It  is  chiefly  attacks  upon  our  commerce  and  har- 
assing inroads  upon  our  coast  against  which  we  have  to 
guard.  A  naval  force  adequate  to  the  protection  of  our 
commerce,  always  afloat,  with  an  accumulation  of  the  means 
to  give  it  a  rapid  extension  in  case  of  need,  furnishes  the 
power  by  which  all  such  aggressions  may  be  prevented  or 
repelled.  The  attention  of  the  Government  has  therefore 
been  recently  directed  more  to  preserving  the  public  ves- 
sels already  built  and  providing  materials  to  be  placed  in 
depot  for  future  use  than  to  increasing  their  number.  With 
the  aid  of  Congress,  in  a  few  years  the  Government  w^ill  be 
prepared  in  case  of  emergency  to  put  afloat  a  powerful  navy 
of  new  ships  almost  as  soon  as  old  ones  could  be  repaired. 

The  modifications  in  this  part  of  the  service  suggested  in 
my  last  annual  message,  which  are  noticed  more  in  detail 
in  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  are  again  recom- 
mended to  your  serious  attention. 

The  report  of  the  Postmaster-General  in  like  manner  ex- 
hibits a  satisfactory  view  of  the  important  branch  of  the 
(Government  under  his  charge.  In  addition  to  the  benefits 
already  secured  by  the  operations  of  the  Post-Office  Depart- 
ment, considerable  improvements  within  the  present  year 


Second   Annual  Message  121 

have  been  made  by  an  increase  in  the  accommodation  af- 
forded by  stage  coaches,  and  in  the  frequency  and  celerity 
of  the  mail  between  some  of  the  most  important  points  of 
the  Union. 

Under  the  late  contracts  improvements  have  been  pro- 
vided for  the  southern  section  of  the  country,  and  at  the 
same  time  an  annual  saving  made  of  upward  of  $72,000. 
Notwithstanding  the  excess  of  expenditure  beyond  the  cur- 
rent receipts  for  a  few  years  past,  necessarily  incurred  in  the 
fulfillment  of  existing  contracts  and  in  the  additional  ex- 
penses between  the  periods  of  contracting  to  meet  the  de- 
mands created  by  the  rapid  growth  and  extension  of  our 
flourishing  country,  yet  the  satisfactory  assurance  is  given 
that  the  future  revenue  of  the  Department  will  be  sufficient 
to  meet  its  extensive  engagements.  The  system  recently 
introduced  that  subjects  its  receipts  and  disbursements  to 
strict  regulation  has  entirely  fulfilled  its  designs.  It  gives 
full  assurance  of  the  punctual  transmission,  as  well  as  the 
security  of  the  funds  of  the  Department.  The  efficiency 
and  industry  of  its  officers  and  the  ability  and  energy  of 
contractors  justify  an  increased  confidence  in  its  continued 
prosperity. 

The  attention  of  Congress  was  called  on  a  former  occa- 
sion to  the  necessity  of  such  a  modification  in  the  office  of 
Attorney-General  of  the  United  States  as  would  render  it 
more  adequate  to  the  wants  of  the  public  service.  This  re- 
sulted in  the  establishment  of  the  office  of  Solicitor  of  the 
Treasury,  and  the  earliest  measures  were  taken  to  give  ef- 
fect to  the  provisions  of  the  law  which  authorized  the  ap- 
pointment of  that  officer  and  defined  his  duties.  But  it  is 
not  believed  that  this  provision,  however  useful  in  itself,  is 
calculated  to  supersede  the  necessity  of  extending  the  duties 
and  powers  of  the  Attorney-General's  Office.  On  the  con- 
trary, I  am  convinced  that  the  public  interest  would  be 
greatly  promoted  by  giving  to  that  officer  the  general  sup- 
erintendence of  the  various  law  agents  of  the  Government, 
and  of  all  law  proceedings,  whether  civil  or  criminal,  in 
which  the  United  States  may  be  interested,  allowing  him  at 


122  Andrew  Jackson 

the  same  time  such  a  compensation  as  would  enable  him  to 
devote  his  undivided  attention  to  the  public  business.  I 
think  such  a  provision  is  alike  due  to  the  public  and  to  the 
officer. 

Occasions  of  reference  from  the  different  Executive  De- 
partments to  the  Attorney-General  are  of  frequent  occur- 
rence, and  the  prompt  decision  of  the  questions  so  referred 
tends  much  to  facilitate  the  dispatch  of  business  in  those 
Departments.  The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
hereto  appended  shows  also  a  branch  of  the  public  service 
not  specifically  intrusted  to  any  officer  which  might  be  ad- 
vantageously committed  to  the  Attorney-General.  But  in- 
dependently of  those  considerations  this  office  is  now  one 
of  daily  duty.  It  was  originally  organized  and  its  compen- 
sation fixed  with  a  view  to  occasional  service,  leaving  to  the 
incumbent  time  for  the  exercise  of  his  profession  in  pri- 
vate practice.  The  state  of  things  which  warranted  such  an 
organization  no  longer  exists.  The  frequent  claims  upon 
the  services  of  this  officer  would  render  his  absence  from 
the  seat  of  Government  in  professional  attendance  upon 
the  courts  injurious  to  the  public  service,  and  the  interests 
of  the  Government  could  not  fail  to  be  promoted  by  charg- 
ing him  with  the  general  superintendence  of  all  its  legal 
concerns. 

Under  a  strong  conviction  of  the  justness  of  these  sugges- 
tions, I  recommend  it  to  Congress  to  make  the  necessary  pro- 
visions for  giving  effect  to  them,  and  to  place  the  Attorney- 
General  in  regard  to  compensation  on  the  same  footing  with 
the  heads  of  the  several  Executive  Departments.  To  this  of- 
ficer might  also  be  intrusted  a  cognizance  of  the  cases  of 
insolvency  in  public  debtors,  especially  if  the  views  which 
I  submitted  on  this  subject  last  year  should  meet  the  appro- 
bation of  Congress — to  which  I  again  solicit  your  attention. 

Your  attention  is  respectfully  invited  to  the  situation  of 
the  District  of  Columbia.  Placed  by  the  Constitution  under 
the  exclusive  jurisdiction  and  control  of  Congress,  this  Dis- 
trict is  certainly  entitled  to  a  much  greater  share  of  its  con- 
sideration  than   it   has   yet   received.      There   is   want   of 


Second  Annual  Message  123 

uniformity  in  its  laws,  particularly  in  those  of  a  penal  char- 
acter, which  increases  the  expense  of  their  administration 
and  subjects  the  people  to  all  the  inconveniences  which  re- 
sult from  the  operation  of  different  codes  in  so  small  a  ter- 
ritory. On  different  sides  of  the  Potomac  the  same  offense 
is  punishable  in  unequal  degrees,  and  the  peculiarities  of 
many  of  the  early  laws  of  Maryland  and  Virginia  remain  in 
force,  notwithstanding  their  repugnance  in  some  cases  to 
the  improvements  which  have  superseded  them  in  those 
States, 

Besides  a  remedy  for  these  evils,  which  is  loudly  called 
for,  it  is  respectfully  submitted  whether  a  provision  author- 
izing the  election  of  a  delegate  to  represent  the  wants  of 
the  citizens  of  this  District  on  the  floor  of  Congress  is  not 
due  to  them  and  to  the  character  of  our  Government.  No 
portion  of  our  citizens  should  be  without  a  practical  enjoy- 
ment of  the  principles  of  freedom,  and  there  is  none  more 
important  than  that  which  cultivates  a  proper  relation  be- 
tween the  governors  and  the  governed.  Imperfect  as  this 
must  be  in  this  case,  yet  it  is  believed  that  it  would  be 
greatly  improved  by  a  representation  in  Congress  with  the 
same  privileges  that  are  allowed  to  the  other  Territories  of 
the  United  States. 

The  penitentiary  is  ready  for  the  reception  of  convicts, 
and  only  awaits  the  necessary  legislation  to  put  it  into  op- 
eration, as  one  object  of  which  I  beg  leave  to  recall  your 
attention  to  the  propriety  of  providing  suitable  compensa- 
tion for  the  officers  charged  with  its  inspection. 

The  importance  of  the  principles  involved  in  the  inquiry 
whether  it  will  be  proper  to  recharter  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  requires  that  I  should  again  call  the  attention 
of  Congress  to  the  subject.  Nothing  has  occurred  to  les- 
sen in  any  degree  the  dangers  which  many  of  our  citizens 
apprehend  from  that  institution  as  at  present  organized. 
In  the  spirit  of  improvement  and  compromise  which  dis- 
tinguishes our  country  and  its  institutions  it  becomes  us  to 
inquire  whether  it  be  not  possible  to  secure  the  advantages 
afforded  by  the  present  bank  through  the  agency  of  a  Bank 


124  Andrew   Jackson 

of  the  United  States  so  modified  in  its  principles  and  struc- 
ture as  to  obviate  constitutional  and  other  objections. 

It  is  thought  practicable  to  organize  such  a  bank  with 
the  necessary  officers  as  a  branch  of  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment, based  on  the  public  and  individual  deposits,  without 
power  to  make  loans  or  purchase  property,  which  shall  re- 
mit the  funds  of  the  Government,  and  the  expense  of  which 
may  be  paid,  if  thought  advisable,  by  allowing  its  officers  to 
sell  bills  of  exchange  to  private  individuals  at  a  moderate 
premium.  Not  being  a  corporate  body,  having  no  stock- 
holders, debtors,  or  property,  and  but  few  officers,  it  would 
not  be  obnoxious  to  the  constitutional  objections  which  are 
urged  against  the  present  bank;  and  having  no  means  to 
operate  on  the  hopes,  fears,  or  interests  of  large  masses  of 
the  community,  it  would  be  shorn  of  the  influence  which 
makes  that  bank  formidable.  The  States  would  be  strength- 
ened by  having  in  their  hands  the  means  of  furnishing  the 
local  paper  currency  through  their  own  banks,  while  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  though  issuing  no  paper,  would 
check  the  issues  of  the  State  banks  by  taking  their  notes  in 
deposit  and  for  exchange  only  so  long  as  they  continue  to  be 
redeemed  with  specie.  In  times  of  public  emergency  the  ca- 
pacities of  such  an  institution  might  be  enlarged  by  legisla- 
tive provisions. 

TJK'se  suggestions  are  made  not  so  much  as  a  recommen- 
dation as  with  a  view  of  calling  the  attention  of  Congress 
to  the  possible  modifications  of  a  system  which  can  not 
continue  to  exist  in  its  present  form  without  occasional 
collisions  with  the  local  authorities  and  perpetual  apprehen- 
sions and  discontent  on  the  part  of  the  States  and  the 
people. 

In  conclusion,  fellow-citizens,  allow  me  to  invoke  in  be- 
half of  your  deliberations  that  spirit  of  conciliation  and  dis- 
interestedness which  is  the  gift  of  patriotism.  Under  an 
overruling  and  merciful  Providence  the  agency  of  this  spirit 
has  thus  far  been  signalized  in  the  prosperity  and  glory  of 
our  beloved  country.     May  its  influence  be  eternal. 


Message  on  Indian   Affairs.* 

(February  22,  183 1.) 

To  the  Senate  of  the  United  States:  I  have  received  your 
resolution  of  the  15th  instant;  requesting  me  "to  inform 
the  Senate  whether  the  provisions  of  the  act  entitled  '  An 
act  to  regulate  trade  and  intercourse  with  the  Indian  tribes 
and  to  preserve  peace  on  the  frontiers,'  passed  the  30th  of 
March,  1802,  have  been  fully  complied  with  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States  Government,  and  if  they  have  not  that  he 
inform  the  Senate  of  the  reasons  that  have  induced  the 
Government  to  decline  the  enforcement  of  said  act,"  and  I 
now  reply  to  the  same. 

According  to  my  views  of  the  act  referred  to,  I  am  not 
aware  of  any  omission  to  carry  into  effect  its  provisions  in 
relation  to  trade  and  intercourse  with  the  Indian  tribes  so 
far  as  their  execution  depended  on  the  agency  confided  to 
the  Executive. 

The  numerous  provisions  of  that  act  designed  to  secure 
to  the  Indians  the  peaceable  possession  of  their  lands  may  be 
reduced,  substantially,  to  the  following:  That  citizens  of 
the  United  States  are  restrained  under  sufficient  penalties 
from  entering  upon  the  lands  for  the  purpose  of  hunting 
thereon,  or  of  settling  them,  or  of  giving  their  horses  and 
cattle  the  benefit  of  a  range  upon  them,  or  of  traveling 
through  them  without  a  written  permission ;  and  that  the 
President  of  the  United  States  is  authorized  to  employ  the 
military  force  of  the  country  to  secure  the  observance  of 
these  provisions.  The  authority  to  the  President,  however, 
is  not  imperative.    The  language  is : 

*  This  message  is  explicatory  of  the  policy  of  the  Government 
toward  the  Indian  tribes. 

125 


26  Andrew   Jackson 


It  shall  be  lawful  for  the  President  to  take  such  measures 
and  to  employ  such  military  force  as  he  may  judge  neces- 
sary to  remove  from  lands  belonging  to  or  secured  by  treaty 
to  any  Indian  tribe  any  citizen  who  shall  make  a  settlement 
thereon. 

P)V  the  nineteenth  section  of  this  act  it  is  provided  that 
nothing  in  it  "  shall  be  construed  to  prevent  any  trade  or 
intercourse  with  Indians  living  on  lands  surrounded  by  set- 
tlements of  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  being  within 
the  ordinary  jurisdiction  of  any  of  the  individual  States." 
This  provision  I  have  interpreted  as  being  prospective  in  its 
operation  and  as  applicable  not  only  to  Indian  tribes  which 
at  the  date  of  its  passage  were  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of 
any  State,  but  to  such  also  as  should  thereafter  become  so. 
To  this  construction  of  its  meaning  I  have  endeavored  to 
conform,  and  have  taken  no  step  inconsistent  with  it.  As 
soon,  therefore,  as  the  sovereign  power  of  the  State  of 
Georgia  was  exercised  by  an  extension  of  her  laws  through- 
out her  limits,  and  I  had  received  information  of  the  same, 
orders  were  given  to  withdraw  from  the  State  the  troops 
which  had  been  detailed  to  prevent  intrusion  upon  the  In- 
dian lands  within  it^  and  these  orders  were  executed.  The 
reasons  which  dictated  them  shall  be  frankly  communi- 
cated. 

The  principle  recognized  in  the  section  last  quoted  was 
not  for  the  first  time  then  avowed.  It  is  conformable  to 
the  uniform  practice  of  the  Government  before  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution,  and  amounts  to  a  distinct  recognition 
by  Congress  at  that  early  day  of  the  doctrine  that  that  in- 
strument had  not  varied  the  powers  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment over  Indian  afifairs  from  what  they  were  under  the 
Articles  of  Confederation.  It  is  not  believed  that  there  is 
a  single  instance  in  the  legislation  of  the  country  in  which 
the  Indians  have  been  regarded  as  possessing  political  rights 
independent  of  the  control  and  authority  of  the  States 
within  the  limits  of  which  they  resided.  As  early  as  the 
year    178-2   the  Journals  of   Congress  will   show   that   no 


Message  on  Indian  Affairs         127 

claim  of  such  a  character  was  countenanced  by  that  body. 
In  that  year  the  appHcation  of  a  tribe  of  Indians  residing  in 
South  Carolina  to  have  certain  tracts  of  land  which  had 
been  reserved  for  their  use  in  that  State  secured  to  them 
free  from  intrusion,  and  without  the  right  of  alienating 
them  even  with  their  own  consent,  was  brought  to  the  con- 
sideration of  Congress  by  a  report  from  the  Secretary  of 
War.  The  resolution  which  was  adopted  on  that  occasion 
is  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  legislature  of 
South  Carolina  to  take  such  measures  for  the  satisfaction 
and  security  of  said  tribes  as  the  said  legislature  in  their 
wisdom  may  think  fit. 

Here  is  no  assertion  of  the  right  of  Congress  under  the 
Articles  of  Confederation  to  interfere  with  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  States  over  Indians  within  their  limits,  but  rather  a 
negation  of  it.  They  refused  to  interfere  with  the  subject, 
and  referred  it  under  a  general  recommendation  back  to 
the  State,  to  be  disposed  of  as  her  wisdom  might  decide. 

If  in  addition  to  this  act  and  the  language  of  the  Articles 
of  Confederation  anything  further  can  be  wanting  to  show 
the  early  views  of  the  Government  on  the  subject,  it  will 
be  found  in  the  proclamation  issued  by  Congress  in  1783. 
It  contains  this  language : 

The  United  States  in  Congress  assembled  have  thought 
proper  to  issue  their  proclamation,  and  they  do  hereby  pro- 
hibit and  forbid  all  persons  from  making  settlements  on 
lands  inhabited  or  claimed  by  Indians  without  the  limits  or 
jurisdiction  of  any  particular  State. 

And  again : 

Resolved,  That  the  preceding  measures  of  Congress  rel- 
ative to  Indian  affairs  shall  not  be  construed  to  affect  the 
territorial  claims  of  any  of  the  States  or  their  legislative 
rights  within  their  respective  limits. 


28  Andrew  Jackson 


It  was  not  then  pretended  that  the  General  Government 
had  the  power  in  their  relations  with  the  Indians  to  control 
or  oppose  the  internal  polity  of  the  individual  States  of  this 
Union,  and  if  such  was  the  case  under  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation the  only  question  on  the  subject  since  must  arise 
out  of  some  more  enlarged  power  or  authority  given  to  the 
General  Government  by  the  present  Constitution.  Does  any 
such  exist? 

Amongst  the  enumerated  grants  of  the  Constitution  that 
which  relates  to  this  subject  is  expressed  in  these  words: 
"  Congress  shall  have  power  to  regulate  commerce  with  the 
Indian  tribes."  In  the  interpretation  of  this  power  we 
ought  certainly  to  be  guided  by  what  had  been  the  practice 
of  the  Government  and  the  meaning  which  had  been  gen- 
erally attached  to  the  resolves  of  the  old  Congress  if  the 
words  used  to  convey  it  do  not  clearly  import  a  different 
one,  as  far  as  it  affects  the  question  of  jurisdiction  in  the 
individual  States.  The  States  ought  not  to  be  divested  of 
any  part  of  their  antecedent  jurisdiction  by  implication  or 
doubtful  construction.  Tested  by  this  rule  it  seems  to  me 
to  be  unquestionable  that  the  jurisdiction  of  the  States  is 
left  untouched  by  this  clause  of  the  Constitution,  and  that  it 
was  designed  to  give  to  the  General  Government  complete 
control  over  the  trade  and  intercourse  of  those  Indians  only 
who  were  not  within  the  limits  of  any  State, 

From  a  view  of  the  acts  referred  to  and  the  uniform 
practice  of  the  Government  it  is  manifest  that  until  recently 
it  has  never  been  maintained  that  the  right  of  jurisdiction 
by  a  State  over  Indians  within  its  territory  was  subordinate 
to  the  power  of  the  Federal  Government.  That  doctrine 
has  not  been  enforced  nor  even  asserted  in  any  of  the  States 
of  New  England  where  tribes  of  Indians  have  resided,  and 
where  a  few  of  them  yet  remain.  These  tribes  have  been 
left  to  the  undisturbed  control  of  the  States  in  which  they 
were  found,  in  conformity  with  the  view  w^hich  has  been 
taken  of  the  opinions  prevailing  up  to  1789  and  the  clear 
interpretation  of  the  act  of  1802.  In  the  State  of  New 
York,  where  several  tribes  have  resided,  it  has  been  the  pol- 


Message  on  Indian  Affairs        129 

icy  of  the  Government  to  avoid  entering  into  quasi  treaty 
engagements  with  them,  barely  appointing  commissioners 
occasionally  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to  facilitate 
the  objects  of  the  State  in  its  negotiations  with  them.  The 
Southern  States  present  an  exception  to  this  policy.  As 
early  as  1784  the  settlements  within  the  limits  of  North 
Carolina  were  advanced  farther  to  the  west  than  the  au- 
thority of  the  State  to  enforce  an  obedience  of  its  laws. 
Others  were  in  a  similar  condition.  The  necessities,  there- 
fore, and  not  the  acknowledged  principles,  of  the  Govern- 
ment must  have  suggested  the  policy  of  treating  with  the 
Indians  in  that  quarter  as  the  only  practicable  mode  of 
conciliating  their  good  will.  The  United  States  at  that 
period  had  just  emerged  from  a  protracted  war  for  the 
achievement  of  their  independence.  At  the  moment  of  its 
conclusion  many  of  these  tribes,  as  powerful  as  they  were 
ferocious  in  their  mode  of  warfare,  remained  in  arms,  deso- 
lating our  frontier  settlements.  Under  these  circumstances 
the  first  treaties,  in  1785  and  1790,  with  the  Cherokees, 
were  concluded  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
and  were  evidently  sanctioned  as  measures  of  necessity 
adapted  to  the  character  of  the  Indians  and  indispens- 
able to  the  peace  and  security  of  the  western  frontier. 
But  they  can  not  be  understood  as  changing  the  political 
relations  of  the  Indians  to  the  States  or  to  the  Federal 
Government.  To  effect  this  would  have  required  the 
operation  of  quite  a  different  principle  and  the  inter- 
vention of  a  tribunal  higher  than  that  of  the  treaty-making 
power. 

To  infer  from  the  assent  of  the  Government  to  this  devia- 
tion from  the  practice  which  had  before  governed  its  in- 
tercourse with  the  Indians,  and  the  accidental  forbearance 
of  the  States  to  assert  their  right  of  jurisdiction  over  them, 
that  they  had  surrendered  this  portion  of  their  sovereignty, 
and  that  its  assumption  now  is  usurpation,  is  conceding  too 
much  to  the  necessity  which  dictated  those  treaties,  and 
doing  violence  to  the  principles  of  the  Government  and  the 
rights  of  the  States  without  benefiting  in  the  least  degree 


130  Andrew  Jackson 

the  Indians.  The  Indians  thus  situated  can  not  be  regarded 
in  any  other  hght  than  as  members  of  a  foreign  government 
or  of  that  of  the  State  within  whose  chartered  Hmits  they  re- 
side. If  in  the  former,  the  ordinary  legislation  of  Congress 
in  relation  to  them  is  not  warranted  by  the  Constitution, 
which  was  established  for  the  benefit  of  our  own,  not  of  a 
foreign  people.  If  in  the  latter,  then,  like  other  citizens 
or  people  resident  within  the  limits  of  the  States,  they  are 
subject  to  their  jurisdiction  and  control.  To  maintain  a 
contrary  doctrine  and  to  require  the  Executive  to  enforce  it 
by  the  employment  of  a  military  force  would  be  to  place  in 
his  hands  a  power  to  make  war  upon  the  rights  of  the  States 
and  the  liberties  of  the  country — a  power  which  should  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  no  individual. 

If,  indeed,  the  Indians  are  to  be  regarded  as  people  pos- 
sessing rights  which  they  can  exercise  independently  of 
the  States,  much  error  has  arisen  in  the  intercourse  of  the 
Government  with  them.  Why  is  it  that  they  have  been 
called  upon  to  assist  in  our  wars  without  the  privilege  of 
exercising  their  own  discretion?  If  an  independent  people, 
they  should  as  such  be  consulted  and  advised  with ;  but  they 
have  not  been.  In  an  order  which  was  issued  to  me  from 
the  War  Department  in  September,  18 14,  this  language  is 
employed : 

All  the  friendly  Indians  should  be  organized  and  prepared 
to  cooperate  with  your  other  forces.  There  appears  to  be 
some  dissatisfaction  among  the  Choctaws;  their  friendship 
and  services  should  be  secured  without  delay.  The  friendly 
Indians  must  be  fed  and  paid,  and  made  to  fight  when  and 
where  their  services  may  be  required. 

To  an  independent  and  foreign  people  this  would  seem  to 
be  assuming,  I  should  suppose,  rather  too  lofty  a  tone — one 
wiiich  the  Government  would  not  have  assumed  if  they  had 
considered  them  in  that  light.  Again,  by  the  Constitution 
the  power  of  declaring  war  belongs  exclusively  to  Congress. 
We  have  been  often  engaged  in  war  with  the  Indian  tribes 


Message  on  Indian  Affairs         13^ 

within  our  limits,  but  when  have  these  hostihties  been  pre- 
ceded or  accompanied  by  an  act  of  Congress  declaring  war 
against  the  tribe  which  was  the  object  of  them?  And  was 
the  prosecution  of  such  hostilities  an  usurpation  in  each  case 
by  the  Executive  which  conducted  them  of  the  constitu- 
tional power  of  Congress?  It  must  have  been  so,  I  appre- 
hend, if  these  tribes  are  to  be  considered  as  foreign  and 
independent  nations. 

The  steps  taken  to  prevent  intrusion  upon  Indian  lands 
had  their  origin  with  the  commencement  of  our  Govern- 
ment, and  became  the  subject  of  special  legislation  in  1802, 
with  the  reservations  which  have  been  mentioned  in  favor 
of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  States.  With  the  exception  of 
South  Carolina,  who  has  uniformly  regulated  the  Indians 
within  her  limits  without  the  aid  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment, they  have  been  felt  within  all  the  States  of  the  South 
without  being  understood  to  afifect  their  rights  or  prevent 
the  exercise  of  their  jurisdiction,  whenever  they  were  in  a 
situation  to  assume  and  enforce  it.  Georgia,  though  mate- 
rially concerned,  has  on  this  principle  forborne  to  spread  her 
legislation  farther  than  the  settlements  of  her  own  white 
citizens,  until  she  has  recently  perceived  within  her  limits 
a  people  claiming  to  be  capable  of  self-government,  sitting 
in  legislative  council,  organizing  courts  and  administering 
justice.  To  disarm  such  an  anomalous  invasion  of  her  sov- 
ereignty she  has  declared  her  determination  to  execute  her 
own  laws  throughout  her  limits — a  step  which  seems  to 
have  been  anticipated  by  the  proclamation  of  1783,  and 
which  is  perfectly  consistent  with  the  nineteenth  section  of 
the  act  of  1802.  According  to  the  language  and  reasoning 
of  that  section,  the  tribes  to  the  South  and  the  Southwest 
are  not  only  "  surrounded  by  settlements  of  the  citizens  of 
the  United  States,"  but  are  now  also  "  within  the  ordinary 
jurisdiction  of  the  individual  States."  They  became  so 
from  the  moment  the  laws  of  the  State  were  extended  over 
them,  and  the  same  result  follows  the  similar  determination 
of  Alabama  and  Mississippi.  These  States  have  each  a 
right  to  claim  in  behalf  of  their  position  now  on  this  ques- 


132  Andrew  Jackson 

tion  the  same  respect  which  is  conceded  to  the  other  States 
of  the  Union. 

Toward  this  race  of  people  I  entertain  the  kindest  feel- 
ings, and  am  not  sensible  that  the  views  which  I  have  taken 
of  their  true  interests  are  less  favorable  to  them  than  those 
which  oppose  their  emigration  to  the  West.  Years  since  I 
stated  to  them  my  belief  that  if  the  States  chose  to  extend 
their  laws  over  them  it  would  not  be  in  the  power  of  the 
Federal  Government  to  prevent  it.  My  opinion  remains 
the  same,  and  I  can  see  no  alternative  for  them  but  that  of 
their  removal  to  the  West  or  a  quiet  submission  to  the 
State  laws.  If  they  prefer  to  remove,  the  United  States 
agree  to  defray  their  expenses,  to  supply  them  the  means  of 
transportation  and  a  year's  support  after  they  reach  their 
new  homes — a  provision  too  liberal  and  kind  to  deserve  the 
stamp  of  injustice.  Either  course  promises  them  peace  and 
happiness,  whilst  an  obstinate  perseverance  in  the  effort  to 
maintain  their  possessions  independent  of  the  State  author- 
ity can  not  fail  to  render  their  condition  still  more  helpless 
and  miserable.  Such  an  effort  ought,  therefore,  to  be  dis- 
countenanced by  all  who  sincerely  sympathize  in  the  for- 
tunes of  this  peculiar  people,  and  especially  by  the  political 
bodies  of  the  Union,  as  calculated  to  disturb  the  harmony 
of  the  two  Governments  and  to  endanger  the  safety  of  the 
many  blessings  which  they  enable  us  to  enjoy. 

As  connected  with  the  subject  of  this  inquiry,  I  beg  leave 
to  refer  to  the  accompanying  letter  from  the  Secretary  of 
War,  inclosing  the  orders  which  proceeded  from  that  De- 
partment, and  a  letter  from  the  governor  of  Georgia. 


Third  Annual  Message.* 

(December  6,   183 1.) 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representor 
lives:  The  representation  of  the  people  has  been  renewed 
for  the  twenty-second  time  since  the  Constitution  they 
formed  has  been  in  force.  For  near  half  a  century  the 
Chief  Magistrates  who  have  been  successively  chosen  have 
made  their  annual  communications  of  the  stgite  of  the  na- 
tion to  its  representatives.  Generally  these  communications 
have  been  of  the  most  gratifying  nature,  testifying  an  ad- 
vance in  all  the  improvements  of  social  and  all  the  securities 
of  political  life.  But  frequently  and  justly  as  you  have  been 
called  on  to  be  grateful  for  the  bounties  of  Providence, 
at  a  few  periods  have  they  been  more  abundantly  or  exten- 
sively bestowed  than  at  the  present ;  rarely,  if  ever,  have  we 
had  greater  reason  to  congratulate  each  other  on  the  con- 
tinued and  increasing  prosperity  of  our  beloved  country. 

Agriculture,  the  first  and  most  important  occupation  of 
man,  has  compensated  the  labors  of  the  husbandman  with 
plentiful  crops  of  all  the  varied  products  of  our  extensive 
country.  Manufactures  have  been  established  in  which  the 
funds  of  the  capitalist  find  a  profitable  investment,  and 
which  give  employment  and  subsistence  to  a  numerous  and 
increasing  body  of  industrious  and  dexterous  mechanics. 
The  laborer  is  rewarded  by  high  wages  in  the  construction 
of  works  of  internal  improvement,  which  are  extending 
with  unprecedented  rapidity.     Science  is  steadily  penetrat- 

*  This  message  treats  of  (i)  manufactures;  (2)  foreign  aflFairs;  (3) 
French  spohation  claims;  (4)  trade  with  the  Orient;  (5)  South  Ameri- 
can affairs;  (6)  Georgia  and  the  Cherokee  Indians;  (7)  public  revenue; 
(8)  government  of  the  District  of  Columbia ;  (9)  the  U.  S.  Bank. 

133 


134  Andrew  Jackson 

ing  the  recesses  of  nature  and  disclosing  her  secrets,  while 
the  ingenuity  of  free  minds  is  subjecting  the  elements  to 
the  power  of  man  and  making  each  new  conquest  auxiliary 
to  his  comfort.  By  our  mails,  whose  speed  is  regularly  in- 
creased and  whose  routes  are  every  year  extended,  the  com- 
munication of  public  intelligence  and  private  business  is 
rendered  frequent  and  safe ;  the  intercourse  between  distant 
cities,  which  it  formerly  required  weeks  to  accomplish,  is 
now  effected  in  a  few  days ;  and  in  the  construction  of  rail- 
roads and  the  application  of  steam  power  we  have  a  reason- 
able prospect  that  the  extreme  parts  of  our  country  will  be 
so  much  approximated  and  those  most  isolated  by  the  ob- 
stacles of  nature  rendered  so  accessible  as  to  remove  an  ap- 
prehension sometimes  entertained  that  the  great  extent  of 
the  Union  would  endanger  its  permanent  existence. 

If  from  the  satisfactory  view  of  our  agriculture,  manu- 
factures, and  internal  improvements  we  turn  to  the  state  of 
our  navigation  and  trade  with  foreign  nations  and  between 
the  States,  we  shall  scarcely  find  less  cause  for  gratulation. 
A  beneficent  Providence  has  provided  for  their  exercise  and 
encouragement  an  extensive  coast,  indented  by  capacious 
bays,  noble  rivers,  inland  seas;  with  a  country  productive 
of  every  material  for  shipbuilding  and  every  commodity  for 
gainful  commerce,  and  filled  with  a  population  active, 
intelligent,  well-informed,  and  fearless  of  danger.  These 
advantages  are  not  neglected,  and  an  impulse  has  lately 
been  given  to  commercial  enterprise,  which  fills  our  ship- 
yards with  new  constructions,  encourages  all  the  arts  and 
branches  of  industry  connected  with  them,  crowds  the 
wharves  of  our  cities  with  vessels,  and  covers  the  most  dis- 
tant seas  with  our  canvas. 

Let  us  be  grateful  for  these  blessings  to  the  beneficent 
Being  who  has  conferred  them,  and  who  suffers  us  to  in- 
dulge a  reasonable  hope  of  their  continuance  and  extension, 
while  we  neglect  not  the  means  by  which  they  may  be  pre- 
served. If  we  may  dare  to  judge  of  His  future  designs  by 
the  manner  in  which  His  past  favors  have  been  bestowed. 
He  has  made  our  national  prosperity  to  depend  on  the  pres- 


Third   Annual  Message  i35 

ervation  of  our  liberties,  our  national  force  on  our  Federal 
Union,  and  our  individual  happiness  on  the  maintenance  of 
our  State  rights  and  wise  institutions.  If  we  are  prosper- 
ous at  home  and  respected  abroad,  it  is  because  we  are  free, 
united,  industrious,  and  obedient  to  the  laws.  While  we 
continue  so  we  shall  by  the  blessing  of  Heaven  go  on  in 
the  happy  career  we  have  begun,  and  which  has  brought  us 
in  the  short  period  of  our  political  existence  from  a  popula- 
tion of  three  to  thirteen  millions;  from  thirteen  separate 
colonies  to  twenty- four  united  States;  from  weakness  to 
strength ;  from  a  rank  scarcely  marked  in  the  scale  of  na- 
tions to  a  high  place  in  their  respect. 

This  last  advantage  is  one  that  has  resulted  in  a  great 
degree  from  the  principles  which  have  guided  our  inter- 
course with  foreign  powers  since  we  have  assumed  an 
equal  station  among  them,  and  hence  the  annual  account 
which  the  Executive  renders  to  the  country  of  the  manner 
in  which  that  branch  of  his  duties  has  been  fulfilled  proves 
instructive  and  salutary. 

The  pacific  and  wise  policy  of  our  Government  kept  us  in 
a  state  of  neutrality  during  the  wars  that  have  at  different 
periods  since  our  political  existence  been  carried  on  by  other 
powers ;  but  this  policy,  while  it  gave  activity  and  extent  to 
our  commerce,  exposed  it  in  the  same  proportion  to  injuries 
from  the  belligerent  nations.  Hence  have  arisen  claims  of 
indemnity  for  those  injuries.  England,  France,  Spain,  Hol- 
land, Sweden,  Denmark,  Naples,  and  lately  Portugal  had  all 
in  a  greater  or  less  degree  infringed  our  neutral  rights. 
Demands  for  reparation  were  made  upon  all.  They  have 
had  in  all_,  and  continue  to  have  in  some,  cases  a  leading  in- 
fluence on  the  nature  of  our  relations  with  the  powers  on 
whom  they  were  made. 

Of  the  claims  upon  England  it  is  unnecessary  to  speak 
further  than  to  say  that  the  state  of  things  to  which  their 
prosecution  and  denial  gave  rise  has  been  succeeded  by  ar- 
rangements productive  of  mutual  good  feeling  and  amicable 
relations  between  the  two  countries,  which  it  is  hoped  will 
not  be  interrupted.     One  of  these  arrangements  is  that  re- 


36  Andrew  Jackson 


lating  to  the  colonial  trade  which  was  communicated  to 
Congress  at  the  last  session ;  and  although  the  short  period 
during  which  it  has  been  in  force  will  not  enable  me  to 
form  an  accurate  judgment  of  its  operation,  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe  that  it  will  prove  highly  beneficial.  The 
trade  thereby  authorized  has  employed  to  the  30th  Septem- 
ber last  upward  of  30,000  tons  of  American  and  15,000 
tons  of  foreign  shipping  in  the  outward  voyages,  and  in 
the  inward  nearly  an  equal  amount  of  American  and  20,000 
only  of  foreign  tonnage.  Advantages,  too,  have  resulted  to 
our  agricultural  interests  from  the  state  of  the  trade  be- 
tween Canada  and  our  Territories  and  States  bordering  on 
the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Lakes  which  may  prove  more  than 
equivalent  to  the  loss  sustained  by  the  discrimination  made 
to  favor  the  trade  of  the  northern  colonies  with  the  West 
Indies. 

After  our  transition  from  the  state  of  colonies  to  that  of 
an  independent  nation  many  points  were  found  necessary  to 
be  settled  between  us  and  Great  Britain.  Among  them  was 
the  demarcation  of  boundaries  not  described  with  sufficient 
precision  in  the  treaty  of  peace.  Some  of  the  lines  that 
divide  the  States  and  Territories  of  the  United  States  from 
the  British  Provinces  have  been  definitively  fixed.  That, 
however,  which  separates  us  from  the  Provinces  of  Canada 
and  New  Brunswick  to  the  north  and  the  east  was  still  in 
dispute  when  I  came  into  office,  but  I  found  arrangements 
made  for  its  settlement  over  which  I  had  no  control.  The 
commissioners  who  had  been  appointed  under  the  provisions 
of  the  treaty  of  Ghent  having  been  unable  to  agree,  a  con- 
vention was  made  with  Great  Britain  by  my  immediate 
predecessor  in  office,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate,  by  which  it  was  agreed  "  that  the  points  of  differ- 
ence which  have  arisen  in  the  settlement  of  the  boundary 
line  between  the  American  and  British  dominions,  as  de- 
scribed in  the  fifth  article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  shall  be 
referred,  as  therein  provided,  to  some  friendly  sovereign  or 
State,  who  shall  be  invited  to  investigate  and  make  a  de- 
cision upon  such  points  of  difference ;"  and  the  King  of  the 


Third  Annual  Message  137 

Netherlands  having  by  the  late  President  and  His  Britannic 
Majesty  been  designated  as  such  friendly  sovereign,  it  be- 
came my  duty  to  carry  with  good  faith  the  agreement  so 
made  into  full  effect.  To  this  end  I  caused  all  the  measures 
to  be  taken  which  were  necessary  to  a  full  exposition  of  our 
case  to  the  sovereign  arbiter,  and  nominated  as  minister 
plenipotentiary  to  his  Court  a  distinguished  citizen  of  the 
State  most  interested  in  the  question  and  who  had  been  one 
of  the  agents  previously  employed  for  settling  the  contro- 
versy. On  the  loth  day  of  January  last  His  Majesty  the 
King  of  the  Netherlands  delivered  to  the  plenipotentiaries  of 
the  United  States  and  of  Great  Britain  his  written  opinion 
on  the  case  referred  to  him.  The  papers  in  relation  to  the 
subject  will  be  communicated  by  a  special  message  to  the 
proper  branch  of  the  Government  with  the  perfect  confi- 
dence that  its  wisdom  will  adopt  such  measures  as  will  se- 
cure an  amicable  settlement  of  the  controversy  without  in- 
fringing any  constitutional  right  of  the  States  immediately 
interested. 

It  affords  me  satisfaction  to  inform  you  that  suggestions 
made  by  my  direction  to  the  charge  d'affaires  of  His  Bri- 
tannic Majesty  to  this  Government  have  had  their  desired 
effect  in  producing  the  release  of  certain  American  citizens 
who  were  imprisoned  for  setting  up  the  authority  of  the 
State  of  Maine  at  a  place  in  the  disputed  territory  under 
the  actual  jurisdiction  of  His  Britannic  Majesty.  From 
this  and  the  assurances  I  have  received  of  the  desire  of 
the  local  authorities  to  avoid  any  cause  of  collision  I  have 
the  best  hopes  that  a  good  understanding  will  be  kept 
up  until  it  is  confirmed  by  the  final  disposition  of  the 
subject. 

The  amicable  relations  which  now  subsist  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain,  the  increasing  intercourse 
between  their  citizens,  and  the  rapid  obliteration  of  un- 
friendly prejudices  to  which  former  events  naturally  gave 
rise  concurred  to  present  this  as  a  fit  period  for  renewing 
our  endeavors  to  provide  against  the  recurrence  of  causes 
of  irritation  which  in  the  event  of  war  between  Great  Brit- 


138  Andrew   Jackson 

aiii  and  any  other  power  would  inevitably  endanger  our 
peace.  Animated  by  the  sincerest  desire  to  avoid  such  a 
state  of  things,  and  peacefully  to  secure  under  all  possible 
circumstances  the  rights  and  honor  of  the  country,  I  have 
given  such  instructions  to  the  minister  lately  sent  to  the 
Court  of  London  as  will  evince  that  desire,  and  if  met  by 
a  correspondent  disposition,  which  we  can  not  doubt,  will 
put  an  end  to  causes  of  collision  which,  without  advantage 
to  either,  tend  to  estrange  from  each  other  two  nations  who 
have  every  motive  to  preserve  not  only  peace,  but  an  inter- 
course of  the  most  amicable  nature. 

In  my  message  at  the  opening  of  the  last  session  of  Con- 
gress I  expressed  a  confident  hope  that  the  justice  of  our 
claims  upon  France,  urged  as  they  were  with  perseverance 
and  signal  ability  by  our  minister  there,  would  finally  be 
acknowledged.  This  hope  has  been  realized.  A  treaty  has 
been  signed  which  will  immediately  be  laid  before  the  Sen- 
ate for  its  approbation,  and  which,  containing  stipulations 
that  require  legislative  acts,  must  have  the  concurrence  of 
both  Houses  before  it  can  be  carried  into  eiifect.  By  it  the 
French  Government  engage  to  pay  a  sum  wdiich,  if  not 
quite  equal  to  that  which  may  be  found  due  to  our  citizens, 
will  yet,  it  is  believed,  under  all  circumstances,  be  deemed 
satisfactory  by  those  interested.  The  offer  of  a  gross  sum 
instead  of  the  satisfaction  of  each  individual  claim  was  ac- 
cepted because  the  only  alternatives  were  a  rigorous  ex- 
action of  the  whole  amount  stated  to  be  due  on  each  claim, 
which  might  in  some  instances  be  exaggerated  by  design, 
in  others  overrated  through  error,  and  which,  therefore,  it 
would  have  been  both  ungracious  and  unjust  to  have  in- 
sisted on ;  or  a  settlement  by  a  mixed  commission,  to  which 
the  French  negotiators  were  very  averse,  and  which  ex- 
perience in  other  cases  had  shewn  to  be  dilatory  and  often 
wholly  inadequate  to  the  end.  A  comparatively  small  sum 
is  stipulated  on  our  part  to  go  to  the  extinction  of  all  claims 
by  I'rench  citizens  on  our  Government,  and  a  reduction  of 
duties  on  our  cotton  and  their  wines  has  been  agreed  on  as 
a  consideration  for  the  renunciation  of  an  important  claim 


Third  Annual  Message  i39 

for  commercial  privileges  under  the  construction  they  gave 
to  the  treaty  for  the  cession  of  Louisiana. 

Should  this  treaty  receive  the  proper  sanction,  a  source 
of  irritation  will  be  stopped  that  has  for  so  many  years  in 
some  degree  alienated  from  each  other  two  nations  who, 
from  interest  as  well  as  the  remembrance  of  early  associa- 
tions, ought  to  cherish  the  most  friendly  relations;  an  en- 
couragement will  be  given  for  perseverance  in  the  demands 
of  justice  by  this  new  proof  that  if  steadily  pursued  they 
will  be  listened  to,  and  admonition  will  be  offered  to  those 
powers,  if  any,  which  may  be  inclined  to  evade  them  that 
they  will  never  be  abandoned ;  above  all,  a  just  confidence 
will  be  inspired  in  our  fellow-citizens  that  their  Govern- 
ment will  exert  all  the  powers  with  which  they  have  in- 
vested it  in  support  of  their  just  claims  upon  foreign  na- 
tions ;  at  the  same  time  that  the  frank  acknowledgment  and 
provision  for  the  payment  of  those  which  were  addressed 
to  our  equity,  although  unsupported  by  legal  proof,  affords 
a  practical  illustration  of  our  submission  to  the  divine  rule 
of  doing  to  others  what  we  desire  they  should  do  unto  us. 

Sweden  and  Denmark  having  made  compensation  for  the 
irregularities  committed  by  their  vessels  or  in  their  ports 
to  the  perfect  satisfaction  of  the  parties  concerned,  and  hav- 
ing renewed  the  treaties  of  commerce  entered  into  with 
them,  our  political  and  commercial  relations  with  those 
powers  continue  to  be  on  the  most  friendly  footing. 

With  Spain  our  differences  up  to  the  22d  of  February, 
1819,  were  settled  by  the  treaty  of  Washington  of  that 
date,  but  at  a  subsequent  period  our  commerce  with  the 
States  formerly  colonies  of  Spain  on  the  continent  of  Amer- 
ica was  annoyed  and  frequently  interrupted  by  her  public 
and  private  armed  ships.  They  captured  many  of  our  ves- 
sels prosecuting  a  lawful  commerce  and  sold  them  and  their 
cargoes,  and  at  one  time  to  our  demands  for  restoration 
and  indemnity  opposed  the  allegation  that  they  were  taken 
in  the  violation  of  a  blockade  of  all  the  ports  of  those  States. 
This  blockade  was  declaratory  only,  and  the  inadequacy  of 
the  force  to  maintain  it  was  so  manifest  that  this  allegation 


140  Andrew  Jackson 

^vas  varied  to  a  charge  of  trade  in  contraband  of  war.  This, 
in  its  turn,  was  also  found  untenable,  and  the  minister 
whom  I  sent  with  instructions  to  press  for  the  reparation 
that  was  due  to  our  injured  fellow-citizens  has  transmitted 
an  answer  to  his  demand  by  which  the  captures  are  declared 
to  have  been  legal,  and  are  justified  because  the  independ- 
ence of  the  States  of  America  never  having  been  acknowl- 
edged by  Spain  she  had  a  right  to  prohibit  trade  with  them 
under  her  old  colonial  laws.  This  ground  of  defense  was 
contradictory,  not  only  to  those  which  had  been  formerly 
alleged,  but  to  the  uniform  practice  and  established  laws  of 
nations,  and  had  been  abandoned  by  Spain  herself  in  the 
convention  which  granted  indemnity  to  British  subjects  for 
captures  made  at  the  same  time,  under  the  same  circum- 
stances, and  for  the  same  allegations  with  those  of  which 
we  complain. 

I,  however,  indulge  the  hope  that  further  reflection  will 
lead  to  other  views,  and  feel  confident  that  when  His  Cath- 
olic Majesty  shall  be  convinced  of  the  justice  of  the  claims 
his  desire  to  preserve  friendly  relations  between  the  two 
countries,  which  it  is  my  earnest  endeavor  to  maintain,  will 
induce  him  to  accede  to  our  demand.  I  have  therefore  dis- 
patched a  special  messenger  with  instructions  to  our  minis- 
ter to  bring  the  case  once  more  to  his  consideration,  to  the 
end  that  if  (which  I  can  not  bring  myself  to  believe)  the 
same  decision  (that  can  not  but  be  deemed  an  unfriendly 
denial  of  justice)  should  be  persisted  in  the  matter  may  be- 
fore your  adjournment  be  laid  before  you,  the  constitutional 
judges  of  what  is  proper  to  be  done  when  negotiation  for 
redress  of  injury  fails. 

The  conclusion  of  a  treaty  for  indemnity  with  France 
seemed  to  present  a  favorable  opportunity  to  renew  our 
claims  of  a  similar  nature  on  other  powers,  and  particularly 
in  the  case  of  those  upon  Naples,  more  especially  as  in  the 
course  of  former  negotiations  with  that  power  our  failure 
to  induce  France  to  render  us  justice  was  used  as  an  argu- 
ment against  us.  The  desires  of  the  merchants,  who  were 
the  principal  sufferers,  have  therefore  been  acceded  to,  and 


Third   Annual  Message  H^ 

a  mission  has  been  instituted  for  the  special  purpose  of  ob- 
taining for  them  a  reparation  already  too  long  delayed. 
This  measure  having  been  resolved  on,  it  was  put  in  exe- 
cution without  waiting  for  the  meeting  of  Congress,  be- 
cause the  state  of  Europe  created  an  apprehension  of  events 
that  might  have  rendered  our  application  ineffectual. 

Our  demands  upon  the  Government  of  the  Two  Sicilies 
are  of  a  peculiar  nature.  The  injuries  on  which  they  are 
founded  are  not  denied,  nor  are  the  atrocity  and  perfidy 
under  which  those  injuries  were  perpetrated  attempted  to 
be  extenuated.  The  sole  ground  on  which  indemnity  has 
been  refused  is  the  alleged  illegality  of  the  tenure  by  which 
the  monarch  who  made  the  seizures  held  his  crown.  This 
defense,  always  unfounded  in  any  principle  of  the  law  of 
nations,  now  universally  abandoned,  even  by  those  powers 
upon  whom  the  responsibility  for  acts  of  past  rulers  bore 
the  most  heavily,  will  unquestionably  be  given  up  by  His 
Sicilian  Majesty,  whose  counsels  will  receive  an  impulse 
from  that  high  sense  of  honor  and  regard  to  justice  which 
are  said  to  characterize  him;  and  I  feel  the  fullest  confi- 
dence that  the  talents  of  the  citizen  commissioned  for  that 
purpose  will  place  before  him  the  just  claims  of  our  injured 
citizens  in  such  a  light  as  will  enable  me  before  your  ad- 
journment to  announce  that  they  have  been  adjusted  and 
secured.  Precise  instructions  to  the  effect  of  bringing  the 
negotiation  to  a  speedy  issue  have  been  given,  and  will  be 
obeyed. 

In  the  late  blockade  of  Terceira  some  of  the  Portuguese 
fleet  captured  several  of  our  vessels  and  committed  other 
excesses,  for  which  reparation  was  demanded,  and  I  was 
on  the  point  of  dispatching  an  armed  force  to  prevent  any 
recurrence  of  a  similar  violence  and  protect  our  citizens  in 
the  prosecution  of  their  lawful  commerce  when  official  as- 
surances, on  which  I  relied,  made  the  sailing  of  the  ships 
unnecessary.  Since  that  period  frequent  promises  have  been 
made  that  full  indemnity  shall  be  given  for  the  injuries  in- 
flicted and  the  losses  sustained.  In  the  performance  there 
has  been  some,  perhaps  unavoidable  delay;  but  I  have  the 


142  Andrew  Jackson 

fullest  confidence  that  my  earnest  desire  that  this  business 
may  at  once  be  closed,  which  our  minister  has  been  in- 
structed strongly  to  express,  will  very  soon  be  gratified. 
I  have  the  better  ground  for  this  hope  from  the  evidence 
of  a  friendly  disposition  which  that  Government  has  shown 
by  an  actual  reduction  in  the  duty  on  rice  the  produce  of 
our  Southern  States,  authorizing  the  anticipation  that  this 
important  article  of  our  export  will  soon  be  admitted  on 
the  same  footing  with  that  produced  by  the  most  favored 
nation. 

With  the  other  powers  of  Europe  we  have  fortunately 
had  no  cause  of  discussions  for  the  redress  of  injuries. 
With  the  Empire  of  the  Russias  our  political  connection  is 
of  the  most  friendly  and  our  commercial  of  the  most  liberal 
kind.  We  enjoy  the  advantages  of  navigation  and  trade 
given  to  the  most  favored  nation,  but  it  has  not  yet  suited 
their  policy,  or  perhaps  has  not  been  found  convenient  from 
other  considerations,  to  give  stability  and  reciprocity  to 
those  privileges  by  a  commercial  treaty.  The  ill  health  of 
the  minister  last  year  charged  with  making  a  proposition 
for  that  arrangement  did  not  permit  him  to  remain  at  St. 
Petersburg,  and  the  attention  of  that  Government  during 
the  whole  of  the  period  since  his  departure  having  been  oc- 
cupied by  the  war  in  which  it  was  engaged,  we  have  been 
assured  that  nothing  could  have  been  effected  by  his  pres- 
ence. A  minister  will  soon  be  nominated,  as  well  to  effect 
this  important  object  as  to  keep  up  the  relations  of  amity 
and  good  understanding  of  which  we  have  received  so  many 
assurances  and  proofs  from  His  Imperial  Majesty  and  the 
Emperor  his  predecessor. 

The  treaty  with  Austria  is  opening  to  us  an  important 
trade  with  the  hereditary  dominions  of  the  Emperor,  the 
value  of  which  has  been  hitherto  little  known,  and  of  course 
not  sufficiently  appreciated.  While  our  commerce  finds  an 
entrance  into  the  south  of  Germany  by  means  of  this  treaty, 
those  we  have  formed  with  the  Henseatic  towns  and  Prus- 
sia and  others  now  in  negotiation  will  open  that  vast  coun- 
try to  the  enterprising  spirit  of  our  merchants  on  the  north 


Third   Annual  Message  HS 

— a  country  abounding  in  all  the  materials  for  a  mutually 
beneficial  commerce,  filled  with  enlightened  and  industrious 
inhabitants,  holding  an  important  place  in  the  politics  of 
Europe,  and  to  which  we  owe  so  many  valuable  citizens. 
The  ratification  of  the  treaty  with  the  Porte  was  sent  to  be 
exchanged  by  the  gentleman  appointed  our  charge  d'affaires 
to  that  Court.  Some  difficulties  occurred  on  his  arrival,  but 
at  the  date  of  his  last  official  dispatch  he  supposed  they  had 
been  obviated  and  that  there  was  every  prospect  of  the  ex- 
change being  speedily  effected. 

This  finishes  the  connected  view  I  have  thought  it  proper 
to  give  of  our  political  and  commercial  relations  in  Europe. 
Every  effort  in  my  power  will  be  continued  to  strengthen 
and  extend  them  by  treaties  founded  on  principles  of  the 
most  perfect  reciprocity  of  interest,  neither  asking  nor  con- 
ceding any  exclusive  advantage,  but  liberating  as  far  as  it 
lies  in  my  power  the  activity  and  industry  of  our  fellow- 
citizens  from  the  shackles  which  foreign  restrictions  may 
impose. 

To  China  and  the  East  Indies  our  commerce  continues  in 
its  usual  extent,  and  with  increased  facilities  which  the 
credit  and  capital  of  our  merchants  afford  by  substituting 
bills  for  payments  in  specie.  A  daring  outrage  having  been 
committed  in  those  seas  by  the  plunder  of  one  of  our  mer- 
chantmen engaged  in  the  pepper  trade  at  a  port  in  Sumatra, 
and  the  piratical  perpetrators  belonging  to  tribes  in  such  a 
slate  of  society  that  the  usual  course  of  proceedings  between 
civilized  nations  could  not  be  pursued,  I  forthwith  dis- 
patched a  frigate  with  orders  to  require  immediate  satis- 
faction for  the  injury  and  indemnity  to  the  sufferers. 

Few  changes  have  taken  place  in  our  connections  with 
the  independent  States  of  America  since  my  last  communi- 
cation to  Congress.  The  ratification  of  a  commercial  treaty 
with  the  United  Republics  of  Mexico  has  been  for  some 
time  under  deliberation  in  their  Congress,  but  was  still  un- 
decided at  the  date  of  our  last  dispatches.  The  unhappy 
civil  commotions  that  have  prevailed  there  were  undoubt- 
edly the  cause  of  the  delay,  but  as  the  Government  is  now 


144  Andrew  Jackson 

said  to  be  tranquillized  we  may  hope  soon  to  receive  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty  and  an  arrangement  for  the  de- 
marcation of  the  boundaries  between  us.  In  the  meantime, 
an  important  trade  has  been  opened  with  mutual  benefit 
from  St.  Louis,  in  the  State  of  Missouri,  by  caravans  to  the 
interior  Provinces  of  Mexico.  This  commerce  is  protected 
in  its  progress  through  the  Indian  countries  by  the  troops 
of  the  United  States,  which  have  been  permitted  to  escort 
the  caravans  beyond  our  boundaries  to  the  settled  part  of 
the  Mexican  territory. 

From  Central  America  I  have  received  assurances  of  the 
most  friendly  kind  and  a  gratifying  application  for  our 
good  offices  to  remove  a  supposed  indisposition  toward  that 
Government  in  a  neighboring  State.  This  application  was 
immediately  and  successfully  complied  with.  They  gave  us 
also  the  pleasing  intelligence  that  differences  which  had  pre- 
vailed in  their  internal  affairs  had  been  peaceably  adjusted. 
Our  treaty  with  this  Republic  continues  to  be  faithfully  ob- 
served, and  promises  a  great  and  beneficial  commerce  be- 
tween the  two  countries — a  commerce  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance if  the  magnificent  project  of  a  ship  canal  through 
the  dominions  of  that  State  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pa- 
cific Ocean,  now  in  serious  contemplation,  shall  be  executed. 

I  have  great  satisfaction  in  communicating  the  success 
which  has  attended  the  exertions  of  our  minister  in  Co- 
lombia to  procure  a  very  considerable  reduction  in  the  duties 
on  our  flour  in  that  Republic.  Indemnity  also  has  been 
stipulated  for  injuries  received  by  our  merchants  from  il- 
legal seizures,  and  renewed  assurances  are  given  that  the 
treaty  between  the  two  countries  shall  be  faithfully  ob- 
served. 

Chili  and  Peru  seem  to  be  still  threatened  with  civil  com- 
motions, and  until  they  shall  be  settled  disorders  may  nat- 
urally be  apprehended,  requiring  the  constant  presence  of  a 
naval  force  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  protect  our  fisheries  and 
guard  our  commerce. 

The  disturbances  that  took  place  in  the  Empire  of  Brazil 
previously  to  and  immediately  consequent  upon  the  abdica- 


Third  Annual  Message  i45 

tion  of  the  late  Emperor  necessarily  suspended  any  effectual 
application  for  the  redress  of  some  past  injuries  suffered  by 
our  citizens  from  that  Government,  while  they  have  been  the 
cause  of  others,  in  v^hich  all  foreigners  seem  to  have  par- 
ticipated. Instructions  have  been  given  to  our  minister  there 
to  press  for  indemnity  due  for  losses  occasioned  by  these  ir- 
regularities, and  to  take  care  that  our  fellow-citizens  shall 
enjoy  all  the  privileges  stipulated'  in  their  favor  by  the 
treaty  lately  made  between  the  two  powers,  all  which  the 
good  intelligence  that  prevails  between  our  minister  at  Rio 
Janeiro  and  the  Regency  gives  us  the  best  reason  to  expect. 

I  should  have  placed  Buenos  Ayres  in  the  list  of  South 
American  powers  in  respect  to  which  nothing  of  importance 
affecting  us  was  to  be  communicated  but  for  occurrences 
which  have  lately  taken  place  at  the  Falkland  Islands,  in 
which  the  name  of  that  Republic  has  been  used  to  cover 
with  a  show  of  authority  acts  injurious  to  our  commerce 
and  to  the  property  and  liberty  of  our  fellow-citizens.  In 
the  course  of  the  present  year  one  of  our  vessels,  engaged 
in  the  pursuit  of  a  trade  which  we  have  always  enjoyed 
without  molestation,  has  been  captured  by  a  band  acting, 
as  they  pretend,  under  the  authority  of  the  Government  of 
Buenos  Ayres.  I  have  therefore  given  orders  for  the  dis- 
patch of  an  armed  vessel  to  join  our  squadron  in  those 
seas  and  aid  in  affording  all  lawful  protection  to  our  trade 
which  shall  be  necessary,  and  shall  without  delay  send  a 
minister  to  inquire  into  the  nature  of  the  circumstances  and 
also  of  the  claim,  if  any,  that  is  set  up  by  that  Government 
to  those  islands.  In  the  meantime,  I  submit  the  case  to  the 
consideration  of  Congress,  to  the  end  that  they  may  clothe 
the  Executive  with  such  authority  and  means  as  they  may 
deem  necessary  for  providing  a  force  adequate  to  the  com- 
plete protection  of  our  fellow-citizens  fishing  and  trading  in 
those  seas. 

This  rapid  sketch  of  our  foreign  relations,  it  is  hoped, 
fellow-citizens,  may  be  of  some  use  in  so  much  of  your  leg- 
islation as  may  bear  on  that  important  subject,  while  it 
affords  to  the  country  at  large  a  source  of  high  gratification 


146  Andrew  Jackson 

in  the  contemplation  of  our  political  and  commercial  con- 
nection with  the  rest  of  the  world.  At  peace  with  all; 
having  subjects  of  future  difference  with  few,  and  those  sus- 
ceptible of  easy  adjustment;  extending  our  commerce  grad- 
ually on  all  sides  and  on  none  by  any  but  the  most  liberal 
and  mutually  beneficial  means,  we  may,  by  the  blessing  of 
Providence,  hope  for  all  that  national  prosperity  which  can 
be  derived  from  an  intercourse  with  foreign  nations,  guided 
by  those  eternal  principles  of  justice  and  reciprocal  good 
will  which  are  binding  as  well  upon  States  as  the  individuals 
of  whom  they  are  composed. 

I  have  great  satisfaction  in  making  this  statement  of  our 
affairs,  because  the  course  of  our  national  policy  enables  me 
to  do  it  without  any  indiscreet  exposure  of  what  in  other 
governments  is  usually  concealed  from  the  people.  Having 
none  but  a  straightforward,  open  course  to  pursue,  guided 
by  a  single  principle  that  will  bear  the  strongest  light,  we 
have  happily  no  political  combinations  to  form,  no  alliances 
to  entangle  us,  no  complicated  interests  to  consult,  and  in 
subjecting  all  we  have  done  to  the  consideration  of  our 
citizens  and  to  the  inspection  of  the  world  we  give  no  ad- 
vantage to  other  nations  and  lay  ourselves  open  to  no  in- 
jury. 

It  may  not  be  improper  to  add  that  to  preserve  this 
state  of  things  and  give  confidence  to  the  world  in  the  in- 
tegrity of  our  designs  all  our  consular  and  diplomatic 
agents  are  strictly  enjoined  to  examine  well  every  cause  of 
complaint  preferred  by  our  citizens,  and  while  they  urge 
with  proper  earnestness  those  that  are  well  founded,  to 
countenance  none  that  are  unreasonable  or  unjust,  and  to  en- 
join on  our  merchants  and  navigators  the  strictest  obedi- 
ence to  the  laws  of  the  countries  to  which  they  resort,  and  a 
course  of  conduct  in  their  dealings  that  may  support  the 
character  of  our  nation  and  render  us  respected  abroad. 

Connected  with  this  subject,  I  must  recommend  a  revisal 
of  our  consular  laws.  Defects  and  omissions  have  been 
discovered  in  their  operation  that  ought  to  be  remedied  and 
supplied.     For  your  further  information  on  this  subject  I 


Third  Annual  Message  ^47 

have  directed  a  report  to  be  made  by  the  Secretary  of  State, 
which  I  shall  hereafter  submit  to  your  consideration. 

The  internal  peace  and  security  of  our  confederated 
States  is  the  next  principal  object  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment. Time  and  experience  have  proved  that  the  abode  of 
the  native  Indian  within  their  limits  is  dangerous  to  their 
peace  and  injurious  to  himself.  In  accordance  with  my 
recommendation  at  a  former  session  of  Congress,  an  appro- 
priation of  half  a  million  of  dollars  was  made  to  aid  the 
voluntary  removal  of  the  various  tribes  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  States.  At  the  last  session  I  had  the  happiness  to  an- 
nounce that  the  Chickasaws  and  Choctaws  had  accepted 
the  generous  offer  of  the  Government  and  agreed  to  re- 
move beyond  the  Mississippi  River,  by  which  the  whole  of 
the  State  of  Mississippi  and  the  western  part  of  Alabama 
will  be  freed  from  Indian  occupancy  and  opened  to  a  civ- 
ilized population.  The  treaties  with  these  tribes  are  in  a 
course  of  execution,  and  their  removal,  it  is  hoped,  will  be 
completed  in  the  course  of  1832. 

At  the  request  of  the  authorities  of  Georgia  the  regis- 
tration of  Cherokee  Indians  for  emigration  has  been  re- 
sumed, and  it  is  confidently  expected  that  one-half,  if  not 
two-thirds,  of  that  tribe  will  follow  the  wise  example  of 
their  more  westerly  brethren.  Those  who  prefer  remain- 
ing at  their  present  homes  will  hereafter  be  governed  by 
the  laws  of  Georgia,  as  all  her  citizens  are,  and  cease  to  be 
the  objects  of  peculiar  care  on  the  part  of  the  General  Gov- 
ernment. 

During  the  present  year  the  attention  of  the  Government 
has  been  particularly  directed  to  those  tribes  in  the  power- 
ful and  growing  State  of  Ohio,  where  considerable  tracts  of 
the  finest  lands  were  still  occupied  by  the  aboriginal  pro- 
prietors. Treaties,  either  absolute  or  conditional,  have 
been  made  extinguishing  the  whole  Indian  title  to  the  res- 
ervations in  that  State,  and  the  time  is  not  distant,  it  is 
hoped,  when  Ohio  will  be  no  longer  embarrassed  with  the 
Indian  population.  The  same  measures  will  be  extended  to 
Indiana  as  soon  as  there  is  reason  to  anticipate  success.     It 


148  Andrew  Jackson 

is  confidently  believed  that  perseverance  for  a  few  years  in 
the  present  policy  of  the  Government  will  extinguish  the  In- 
dian title  to  all  lands  lying  within  the  States  composing  our 
Federal  Union,  and  remove  beyond  their  limits  every  In- 
dian who  is  not  willing  to  submit  to  their  laws.  Thus  will 
all  conflicting  claims  to  jurisdiction  between  the  States  and 
the  Indian  tribes  be  put  to  rest.  It  is  pleasing  to  reflect 
that  results  so  beneficial,  not  only  to  the  States  immediately 
concerned,  but  to  the  harmony  of  the  Union,  will  have  been 
accomplished  by  measures  equally  advantageous  to  the  In- 
dians. What  the  native  savages  become  when  surrounded 
by  a  dense  population  and  by  mixing  with  the  whites  may 
be  seen  in  the  miserable  remnants  of  a  few  Eastern  tribes, 
deprived  of  political  and  civil  rights,  forbidden  to  make  con- 
tracts, and  subjected  to  guardians,  dragging  out  a  wretched 
existence,  without  excitement,  without  hope,  and  almost 
without  thought. 

But  the  removal  of  the  Indians  beyond  the  limits  and 
jurisdiction  of  the  States  does  not  place  them  beyond  the 
reach  of  philanthropic  aid  and  Christian  instruction.  On 
the  contrary,  those  whom  philanthropy  or  religion  may  in- 
duce to  live  among  them  in  their  new  abode  will  be  more 
free  in  the  exercise  of  their  benevolent  functions  than  if 
they  had  remained  within  the  limits  of  the  States,  embar- 
rassed by  their  internal  regulations.  Now  subject  to  no 
control  but  the  superintending  agency  of  the  General  Gov- 
ernment, exercised  with  the  sole  view  of  preserving  peace, 
they  may  proceed  unmolested  in  the  interesting  experiment 
of  gradually  advancing  a  community  of  American  Indians 
from  barbarism  to  the  habits  and  enjoyments  of  civilized 
life. 

Among  the  happiest  effects  of  the  improved  relations  of 
our  Republic  has  been  an  increase  ot  trade,  producing  a  cor- 
responding increase  of  revenue  beyond  the  most  sanguine 
anticipations  of  the  Treasury  Department. 

The  state  of  the  public  finances  will  be  fully  shown  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  the  report  which  he  will 
presently  lay  before  you.     I  will  here,  however,  congratu- 


Third  Annual  Message  i49 

late  you  upon  their  prosperous  condition.  The  revenue  re- 
ceived in  the  present  year  will  not  fall  short  of  $27,700,000, 
and  the  expenditures  for  all  objects  other  than  the  public 
debt  will  not  exceed  $14,700,000.  The  payment  on  account 
of  the  principal  and  interest  of  the  debt  during  the  year  will 
exceed  $16,500,000,  a  greater  sum  than  has  been  applied  to 
that  object  out  of  the  revenue  in  any  year  since  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  sinking  fund  except  the  two  years  following  im- 
mediately thereafter.  The  amount  which  will  have  been  ap- 
plied to  the  public  debt  from  the  4th  of  March,  1829,  to  the 
ist  of  January  next,  which  is  less  than  three  years  since  the 
Administration  has  been  placed  in  my  hands,  will  exceed 
$40,000,000. 

From  the  large  importations  of  the  present  year  it  may 
be  safely  estimated  that  the  revenue  which  will  be  received 
into  the  Treasury  from  that  source  during  the  next  year, 
with  the  aid  of  that  received  from  the  public  lands,  will 
considerably  exceed  the  amount  of  the  receipts  of  the  pres- 
ent vear;  and  it  is  believed  that  with  the  means  which  the 
Government  will  have  at  its  disposal  from  various  sources, 
which  will  be  fully  stated  by  the  proper  Department,  the 
whole  of  the  public  debt  may  be  extinguished,  either  by  re- 
demption or  purchase,  within  the  four  years  of  my  Admin- 
istration. We  shall  then  exhibit  the  rare  example  of  a  great 
nation,  abounding  in  all  the  means  of  happiness  and  secur- 
ity, altogether  free  from  debt. 

The  confidence  with  which  the  extinguishment  of  the 
public  debt  may  be  anticipated  presents  an  opportunity  for 
carrying  into  effect  more  fully  the  policy  in  relation  to  im- 
port duties  which  has  been  recommended  in  my  former  mes- 
sages. A  modification  of  the  tariff  which  shall  produce  a  re- 
duction of  our  revenue  to  the  wants  of  the  Government  and 
an  adjustment  of  the  duties  on  imports  with  a  view  to  equal 
justice  in  relation  to  all  our  national  interests  and  to  the 
counteraction  of  foreign  policy  so  far  as  it  may  be  injurious 
to  those  interests,  is  deemed  to  be  one  of  the  principal  ob- 
jects which  demand  the  consideration  of  the  present  Con- 
gress.    Justice  to  the  interests  of  the  merchant  as  well  as 


150  Andrew   Jackson 

the  manufacturer  requires  that  material  reductions  in  the 
import  duties  be  prospective;  and  unless  the  present  Con- 
gress shall  dispose  of  the  subject  the  proposed  reductions 
can  not  properly  be  made  to  take  effect  at  the  period  when 
the  necessity  for  the  revenue  arising  from  present  rates 
shall  cease.  It  is  therefore  desirable  that  arrangements  be 
adopted  at  your  present  session  to  relieve  the  people  from 
unnecessary  taxation  after  the  extinguishment  of  the  public 
debt.  In  the  exercise  of  that  spirit  of  concession  and  con- 
ciliation which  has  distinguished  the  friends  of  our  Union 
in  all  great  emergencies,  it  is  believed  that  this  object  may 
be  effected  without  injury  to  any  national  interest. 

In  my  annual  message  of  December,  1829,  I  had  the 
honor  to  recommend  the  adoption  of  a  more  liberal  policy 
than  that  which  then  prevailed  toward  unfortunate  debtors 
to  the  Government,  and  I  deem  it  my  duty  again  to  invite 
your  attention  to  this  subject. 

Actuated  by  similar  views,  Congress  at  their  last  session 
passed  an  act  for  the  relief  of  certain  insolvent  debtors  of 
the  United  States,  but  the  provisions  of  that  law  have  not 
been  deemed  such  as  were  adequate  to  that  relief  to  this  un- 
fortunate class  of  our  fellow-citizens  which  may  be  safely 
extended  to  them.  The  points  in  which  the  law  appears  to 
be  defective  will  be  particularly  communicated  by  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  and  I  take  pleasure  in  recommend- 
ing such  an  extension  of  its  provisions  as  will  unfetter  the 
enterprise  of  a  valuable  portion  of  our  citizens  and  restore 
to  them  the  means  of  usefulness  to  themselves  and  the  com- 
munity. While  deliberating  on  this  subject  I  would  also 
recommend  to  your  consideration  the  propriety  of  so  modi- 
fying the  laws  for  enforcing  the  payment  of  debts  due  either 
to  the  public  or  to  individuals  suing  in  the  courts  of  the 
United  States  as  to  restrict  the  imprisonment  of  the  per- 
son to  cases  of  fraudulent  concealment  of  property.  The 
personal  liberty  of  the  citizen  seems  too  sacred  to  be  held, 
as  in  many  cases  it  now  is,  at  the  will  of  a  creditor  to  whom 
he  is  willing  to  surrender  all  the  means  he  has  of  discharg- 
ing his  debt. 


Third  Annual  Message  ^5^ 

The  reports  from  the  Secretaries  of  the  War  and  Navy 
Departments  and  from  the  Postmaster-General,  which  ac- 
company this  message,  present  satisfactory  views  of  the  op- 
erations of  the  Departments  respectively  under  their  charge, 
and  suggest  improvements  which  are  worthy  of  and  to 
which  I  invite  the  serious  attention  of  Congress.  Certain 
defects  and  omissions  having  been  discovered  in  the  opera- 
tion of  the  laws  respecting  patents,  they  are  pointed  out  in 
the  accompanying  report  from  the  Secretary  of  State. 

I  have  heretofore  recommended  amendments  of  the  Fed- 
eral Constitution  giving  the  election  of  President  and  Vice- 
President  to  the  people  and  limiting  the  service  of  the 
former  to  a  single  term.  So  important  do  I  consider  these 
changes  in  our  fundamental  law  that  I  can  not,  in  accord- 
ance with  my  sense  of  duty,  omit  to  press  them  upon  the 
consideration  of  a  new  Congress,  For  my  views  more  at 
large,  as  well  in  relation  to  these  points  as  to  the  disquali- 
fication of  members  of  Congress  to  receive  an  office  from  a 
President  in  whose  election  they  have  had  an  official  agency, 
which  I  proposed  as  a  substitute,  I  refer  you  to  my  former 
messages. 

Our  system  of  public  accounts  is  extremely  complicated, 
and  it  is  believed  may  be  much  improved.  Much  of  the 
present  machinery  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the  expen- 
diture of  public  money  may  be  dispensed  with,  while  greater 
facilities  can  be  afforded  to  the  liquidation  of  claims  upon 
the  Government  and  an  examination  into  their  justice  and 
legality  quite  as  efficient  as  the  present  secured.  With  a 
view  to  a  general  reform  in  the  system,  I  recommend  the 
subject  to  the  attention  of  Congress. 

I  deem  it  my  duty  again  to  call  your  attention  to  the  con- 
dition of  the  District  of  Columbia.  It  was  doubtless  wise  in 
the  framers  of  our  Constitution  to  place  the  people  of  this 
District  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  General  Government, 
but  to  accomplish  the  objects  they  had  in  view  it  is  not  nec- 
essary that  this  people  should  be  deprived  of  all  the  privi- 
leges of  self-government.  Independently  of  the  difficulty  of 
inducing  the  representatives  of  distant  States  to  turn  their 


152  Andrew   Jackson 

attention  to  projects  of  laws  which  are  not  of  the  highest 
interest  to  their  constituents,  they  are  not  individually,  nor 
in  Congress  collectively,  well  qualified  to  legislate  over  the 
local  concerns  of  this  District.  Consequently  its  interests 
are  much  neglected,  and  the  people  are  almost  afraid  to 
present  their  grievances,  lest  a  body  in  which  they  are  not 
represented  and  which  feels  little  sympathy  in  their  local 
relations  should  in  its  attempt  to  make  laws  for  them  do 
more  harm  than  good.  Governed  by  the  laws  of  the  States 
whence  they  were  severed,  the  two  shores  of  the  Potomac 
within  the  10  miles  square  have  different  penal  codes — ^not 
the  present  codes  of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  but  such  as 
existed  in  those  States  at  the  time  of  the  cession  to  the 
United  States.  As  Congress  will  not  form  a  new  code,  and 
as  the  people  of  the  District  can  not  make  one  for  them- 
selves, they  are  virtually  under  two  governments.  Is  it  not 
just  to  allow  them  at  least  a  Delegate  in  Congress,  if  not  a 
local  legislature,  to  make  laws  for  the  District,  subject  to 
the  approval  or  rejection  of  Congress?  I  earnestly  recom- 
mend the  extension  to  them  of  every  political  right  which 
their  interests  require  and  which  may  be  compatible  with 
the  Constitution. 

The  extension  of  the  judiciary  system  of  the  United 
States  is  deemed  to  be  one  of  the  duties  of  the  Government. 
One-fourth  of  the  States  in  the  Union  do  not  participate 
in  the  benefits  of  a  circuit  court.  To  the  States  of  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Missouri,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana,  ad- 
mitted into  the  Union  since  the  present  judicial  system  was 
organized,  only  a  district  court  has  been  allowed.  If  this 
be  sufficient,  then  the  circuit  courts  already  existing  in 
eighteen  States  ought  to  be  abolished ;  if  it  be  not  sufficient, 
the  defect  ought  to  be  remedied,  and  these  States  placed  on 
the  same  footing  with  the  other  members  of  the  Union.  It 
was  on  this  condition  and  on  this  footing  that  they  entered 
the  Union,  and  they  may  demand  circuit  courts  as  a  mat- 
ter not  of  concession,  but  of  right.  I  trust  that  Congress 
will  not  adjourn  leaving  this  anomaly  in  our  system. 

luitertaining  the  opinions  heretofore  expressed  in  rela- 


Third  Annual  Message  153 

tion  to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  as  at  present  organ- 
ized, I  felt  it  my  duty  in  my  former  messages  frankly  to  dis- 
close them,  in  order  that  the  attention  of  the  Legislature  and 
the  people  should  be  seasonably  directed  to  that  important 
subject,  and  that  it  might  be  considered  and  finally  disposed 
of  in  a  manner  best  calculated  to  promote  the  ends  of  the 
Constitution  and  subserve  the  public  interests.  Having  thus 
conscientiously  discharged  a  constitutional  duty,  I  deem  it 
proper  on  this  occasion,  without  a  more  particular  reference 
to  the  views  of  the  subject  then  expressed,  to  leave  it  for  the 
present  to  the  investigation  of  an  enlightened  people  and 
their  representatives. 

In  conclusion  permit  me  to  invoke  that  Power  which  sup- 
erintends all  governments  to  infuse  into  your  deliberations 
at  this  important  crisis  of  our  history  a  spirit  of  mutual  for- 
bearance and  conciliation.  In  that  spirit  was  our  Union 
formed,  and  in  that  spirit  must  it  be  preserved. 


Veto  Message — Bank  of  the  United 
States.* 

(July  10,  1832.) 

To  the  Senate:  The  bill  "  to  modify  and  continue  "  the 
act  entitled  "  An  act  to  incorporate  the  subscribers  to  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  "  was  presented  to  me  on  the 
4th  July  instant.  Having  considered  it  with  that  solemn 
regard  to  the  principles  of  the  Constitution  which  the  day 
was  calculated  to  inspire,  and  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  ought  not  to  become  a  law,  I  herewith  return  it  to  the 
Senate,  in  which  it  originated,  with  my  objections. 

*  The  history  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  is  largely  the  history 
of  the  United  States  during  the  first  third  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Sumner  gives  the  best  brief  (though  somewhat  hostile)  account  of 
the  Bank  in  his  Andrew  Jackson,  Ch.  XL,  but  the  reader  must  turn  to 
the  friends  of  the  Bank  for  their  version  of  its  affairs,  and  to  the  general 
historians  of  the  period.  (See  Bibliography.)  Jackson  opposed  the 
recharter — as  stated  in  this  veto  message — because  (i)  the  Bank  was 
a  monopoly,  therefore  harmful  to  the  country,  whatever  bonus  paid 
the  Government;  (2)  one-fifth  of  its  stockholders  were  foreigners;  (3) 
banks  could  pay  to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  in  branch  bank 
drafts,  a  privilege  denied  to  individuals;  (4)  the  States  could  tax  the 
stock  of  the  Bank  owned  by  their  citizens  and  thus  drive  the  stock 
out  of  the  country;  (5)  the  few  stockholders  left  in  the  country  could 
control  the  Bank;  (6)  the  Bank's  charter  was  unconstitutional;  (7)  the 
Bank's  business  was  exempt  from  taxation;  (8)  the  Bank  was  said  to 
be  mismanaged;  (9)  a  better  fiscal  agent  could  be  devised;  (10)  the 
Bank  favored  the  rich  and  discriminated  against  the  poor. 

Senator  White,  of  Tennessee,  remarks  Benton,  "exalted  the  merit 
of  the  message  above  all  the  acts  of  General  Jackson's  life,  and  claimed 
for  it  a  more  enduring  fame  and  deeper  gratitude  than  for  the  greatest 
of  his  victories;  .  .  .  and  such,  in  my  opinion,  will  be  the  judgment  of 
posterity,  if  furnished  with  the  material  to  appreciate  the  circum- 
stances under  which  he  acted  when  signing  the  message  which  was 
to  decide  the  question  of  supremacy  between  the  Bank  and  the  Gov- 
ernment."     Thirty  Years'  View,  I.,  p.  265. 

1 54 


Veto   Message  ^55 

A  bank  of  the  United  States  is  in  many  respects  con- 
venient for  the  Government  and  useful  to  the  people.  En- 
tertaining this  opinion,  and  deeply  impressed  with  the  be- 
lief that  some  of  the  powers  and  privileges  possessed  by  the 
existing  bank  are  unauthorized  by  the  Constitution,  sub- 
versive of  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  dangerous  to  the  lib- 
erties of  the  people,  I  felt  it  my  duty  at  an  early  period  of 
my  Administration  to  call  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the 
practicability  of  organizing  an  institution  combining  all  its 
advantages  and  obviating  these  objections.  I  sincerely  re- 
gret that  in  the  act  before  me  I  can  perceive  none  of  those 
modifications  of  the  bank  charter  which  are  necessary,  in 
my  opinion,  to  make  it  compatible  with  justice,  with  sound 
policy,  or  with  the  Constitution  of  our  country. 

The  present  corporate  body,  denominated  the  president, 
directors,  and  company  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
will  have  existed  at  the  time  this  act  is  intended  to  take 
effect  twenty  years.  It  enjoys  an  exclusive  privilege  of 
banking  under  the  authority  of  the  General  Government,  a 
monopoly  of  its  favor  and  support,  and,  as  a  necessary  con- 
sequence, almost  a  monopoly  of  the  foreign  and  domestic 
exchange.  The  powers,"  privileges,  and  favors  bestowed 
upon  it  in  the  original  charter,  by  increasing  the  value  of  the 
stock  far  above  its  par  value,  operated  as  a  gratuity  of  many 
millions  to  the  stockholders. 

An  apology  may  be  found  for  the  failure  to  guard  against 
this  result  in  the  consideration  that  the  effect  of  the  origi- 
nal act  of  incorporation  could  not  be  certainly  foreseen  at 
the  time  of  its  passage.  The  act  before  me  proposes  another 
gratuity  to  the  holders  of  the  same  stock,  and  in  many  cases 
to  the  same  men,  of  at  least  seven  millions  more.  This  do- 
nation finds  no  apology  in  any  uncertainty  as  to  the  effect 
of  the  act.  On  all  hands  it  is  conceded  that  its  passage  will 
increase  at  least  20  or  30  per  cent  more  the  market  price  of 
the  stock,  subject  to  the  payment  of  the  annuity  of  $200,000 
per  year  secured  by  the  act,  thus  adding  in  a  moment  one- 
fourth  to  its  par  value.  It  is  not  our  own  citizens  only  who 
are  to  receive  the  bounty  of  our  Government.     More  than 


156  Andrew  Jackson 

eight  millions  of  the  stock  of  this  bank  are  held  by  foreign- 
ers. By  this  act  the  American  Republic  proposes  virtually 
to  make  them  a  present  of  some  millions  of  dollars.  For 
these  gratuities  to  foreigners  and  to  some  of  our  own  opu- 
lent citizens  the  act  secures  no  equivalent  whatever.  They 
arc  the  certain  gains  of  the  present  stockholders  under  the 
operation  of  this  act,  after  making  full  allowance  for  the 
payment  of  the  bonus. 

Every  monopoly  and  all  exclusive  privileges  are  granted 
at  the  expense  of  the  public,  which  ought  to  receive  a  fair 
equivalent.  The  many  millions  which  this  act  proposes  to 
bestow  on  the  stockholders  of  the  existing  bank  must  come 
directly  or  indirectly  out  of  the  earnings  of  the  American 
people.  It  is  due  to  them,  therefore,  if  their  Government 
sell  monopolies  and  exclusive  privileges,  that  they  should 
at  least  exact  for  them  as  much  as  they  are  worth  in  open 
market.  The  value  of  the  monopoly  in  this  case  may  be 
correctly  ascertained.  The  twenty-eight  millions  of  stock 
would  probably  be  at  an  advance  of  50  per  cent,  and  com- 
mand in  market  at  least  $42,000,000,  subject  to  the  pay- 
ment of  the  present  bonus.  The  present  value  of  the  mo- 
nopoly, therefore,  is  $17,000,000,  and  this  the  act  proposes 
to  sell  for  three  millions,  payable  in  fifteen  annual  install- 
ments of  $200,000  each. 

It  is  not  conceivable  how  the  present  stockholders  can 
have  any  claim  to  the  special  favor  of  the  Government.  The 
present  corporation  has  enjoyed  its  monopoly  during  the 
period  stipulated  in  the  original  contract.  If  we  must  have 
such  a  corporation,  why  should  not  the  Government  sell  out 
the  whole  stock  and  thus  secure  to  the  people  the  full  market 
value  of  the  privileges  granted?  Why  should  not  Congress 
create  and  sell  twenty-eight  millions  of  stock,  incorporating 
the  purchasers  with  all  the  powers  and  privileges  secured  in 
this  act  and  putting  the  premium  upon  the  sales  into  the 
Treasury? 

But  this  act  does  not  permit  competition  in  the  purchase 
of  this  monopoly.  It  seems  to  be  predicated  on  the  errone- 
ous idea  that  the  present  stockholders  have  a  prescriptive 


Veto  Message  ^57 

right  not  only  to  the  favor  but  to  the  bounty  of  Govern- 
ment. It  appears  that  more  than  a  fourth  part  of  the  stock 
is  held  by  foreigners  and  the  residue  is  held  by  a  few  hun- 
dred of  our  own  citizens,  chiefly  of  the  richest  class.  For 
their  benefit  does  this  act  exclude  the  whole  American  peo- 
ple from  competition  in  the  purchase  of  this  monopoly  and 
dispose  of  it  for  many  millions  less  than  it  is  worth.  This 
seems  the  less  excusable  because  some  of  our  citizens  not 
now  stockholders  petitioned  that  the  door  of  competition 
might  be  opened,  and  offered  to  take  a  charter  on  terms 
much  more  favorable  to  the  Government  and  country. 

But  this  proposition,  although  made  by  men  whose  ag- 
gregate wealth  is  believed  to  be  equal  to  all  the  private 
stock  in  the  existing  bank,  has  been  set  aside,  and  the  bounty 
of  our  Government  is  proposed  to  be  again  bestowed  on  the 
few  who  have  been  fortunate  enough  to  secure  the  stock 
and  at  this  moment  wield  the  power  of  the  existing  insti- 
tution. I  can  not  perceive  the  justice  or  policy  of  this 
course.  If  our  Government  must  sell  monopolies,  it  would 
seem  to  be  its  duty  to  take  nothing  less  than  their  full  value, 
and  if  gratuities  must  be  made  once  in  fifteen  or  twenty 
years  let  them  not  be  bestowed  on  the  subjects  of  a  foreign 
government  nor  upon  a  designated  and  favored  class  of 
men  in  our  own  country.  It  is  but  justice  and  good  policy, 
as  far  as  the  nature  of  the  case  will  admit,  to  confine  our 
favors  to  our  own  fellow-citizens,  and  let  each  in  his  turn 
enjoy  an  opportunity  to  profit  by  our  bounty.  In  the  bear- 
ings of  the  act  before  me  upon  these  points  I  find  ample 
reasons  why  it  should  not  become  a  law. 

It  has  been  urged  as  an  argument  in  favor  of  recharter- 
ing  the  present  bank  that  the  calling  in  its  loans  will  pro- 
duce great  embarrassment  and  distress.  The  time  allowed 
to  close  its  concerns  is  ample,  and  if  it  has  been  well  man- 
aged its  pressure  will  be  light,  and  heavy  only  in  case  its 
management  has  been  bad.  If,  therefore,  it  shall  produce 
distress,  the  fault  will  be  its  own,  and  it  would  furnish  a 
reason  against  renewing  a  power  which  has  been  so  obvi- 
ously abused.    But  will  there  ever  be  a  time  when  this  rea- 


15'^  Andrew   Jackson 

son  will  be  less  powerful?  To  acknowledge  its  force  is  to 
admit  that  the  bank  ought  to  be  perpetual,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence the  present  stockholders  and  those  inheriting  their 
rights  as  successors  be  established  a  privileged  order,  clothed 
both  with  great  political  power  and  enjoying  immense  pe- 
cuniary advantages  from  their  connection  with  the  Govern- 
ment. 

The  modifications  of  the  existing  charter  proposed  by  this 
act  are  not  such,  in  my  view,  as  make  it  consistent  with  the 
rights  of  the  States  or  the  liberties  of  the  people.  The  qual- 
ification of  the  right  of  the  bank  to  hold  real  estate,  the  lim- 
itation of  its  power  to  establish  branches,  and  the  power  re- 
served to  Congress  to  forbid  the  circulation  of  small  notes 
are  restrictions  comparatively  of  little  value  or  importance. 
All  the  objectionable  principles  of  the  existing  corporation, 
and  most  of  its  odious  features,  are  retained  without  alle- 
viation. 

The  fourth  section  provides  "  that  the  notes  or  bills  of 
the  said  corporation,  although  the  same  be,  on  the  faces 
thereof,  respectively  made  payable  at  one  place  only,  shall 
nevertheless  be  received  by  the  said  corporation  at  the  bank 
or  at  any  of  the  offices  of  discount  and  deposit  thereof  if  ten- 
dered in  liquidation  or  payment  of  any  balance  or  balances 
due  to  said  corporation  or  to  such  office  of  discount  and  de- 
posit from  any  other  incorporated  bank."  This  provision 
secures  to  the  State  banks  a  legal  privilege  in  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States  which  is  withheld  from  all  private  citi- 
zens. If  a  State  bank  in  Philadelphia  owe  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  and  have  notes  issued  by  the  St.  Louis 
branch,  it  can  pay  the  debt  with  those  notes,  but  if  a  mer- 
chant, mechanic,  or  other  private  citizen  be  in  like  circum- 
stances he  can  not  by  law  pay  his  debt  with  those  notes,  but 
must  sell  them  at  a  discount  or  send  them  to  St.  Louis  to 
be  cashed.  This  boon  conceded  to  the  State  banks,  though 
not  unjust  in  itself,  is  most  odious  because  it  does  not 
measure  out  equal  justice  to  the  high  and  the  low,  the  rich 
and  the  poor.  To  the  extent  of  its  practical  effect  it  is  a 
bond   of  union  among  the  banking  establishments  of  the 


Veto  Message  159 

nation,  erecting  them  into  an  interest  separate  from  that 
of  the  people,  and  its  necessary  tendency  is  to  unite  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  and  the  State  banks  in  any  mea- 
sure which  may  be  thought  conducive  to  their  common 
interest. 

The  ninth  section  of  the  act  recognizes  principles  of  worse 
tendency  than  any  provision  of  the  present  charter. 

It  enacts  that  "  the  cashier  of  the  bank  shall  annually  re- 
port to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  the  names  of  all  stock- 
holders who  are  not  resident  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
and  on  the  application  of  the  treasurer  of  any  State  shall 
make  out  and  transmit  to  such  treasurer  a  list  of  stockhold- 
ers residing  in  or  citizens  of  such  State,  with  the  amount  of 
stock  owned  by  each."  Although  this  provision,  taken  in 
connection  with  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  surren- 
ders, by  its  silence,  the  right  of  the  States  to  tax  the  banking 
institutions  created  by  this  corporation  under  the  name  of 
branches  throughout  the  Union,  it  is  evidently  intended  to 
be  construed  as  a  concession  of  their  right  to  tax  that  portion 
of  the  stock  which  may  be  held  by  their  own  citizens  and 
residents.  In  this  light,  if  the  act  becomes  a  law,  it  will  be 
understood  by  the  States,  who  will  probably  proceed  to  levy 
a  tax  equal  to  that  paid  upon  the  stock  of  banks  incorporated 
by  themselves.  In  some  States  that  tax  is  now  i  per  cent, 
either  on  the  capital  or  on  the  shares,  and  that  may  be  as- 
sumed as  the  amount  which  all  citizen  or  resident  stock- 
holders would  be  taxed  under  the  operation  of  this  act.  As 
it  is  only  the  stock  held  in  the  States  and  not  that  employed 
within  them  which  would  be  subject  to  taxation,  and  as  the 
names  of  foreign  stockholders  are  not  to  be  reported  to 
the  treasurers  of  the  States,  it  is  obvious  that  the  stock  held 
by  them  will  be  exempt  from  this  burden.  Their  annual 
profits  will  therefore  be  i  per  cent  more  than  the  citizen 
stockholders,  and  as  the  annual  dividends  of  the  bank  may 
be  safely  estimated  at  7  per  cent,  the  stock  will  be  worth 
10  or  15  per  cent  more  to  foreigners  than  to  citizens  of  the 
United  States.  To  appreciate  the  effects  which  this  state 
of  things  will  produce,  we  must  take  a  brief  review  of  the 


i6o  Andrew  Jackson 

operations  and  present  condition  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States. 

By  documents  submitted  to  Congress  at  the  present  ses- 
sion it  appears  that  on  the  ist  of  January,  1832,  of  the 
twenty-eight  milHons  of  private  stock  in  the  corporation, 
$8,405,500  were  held  by  foreigners,  mostly  of  Great  Britain. 
The  amount  of  stock  held  in  the  nine  Western  and  South- 
western States  is  $140,200,  and  in  the  four  Southern  States 
is  $5,623,100,  and  in  the  Middle  and  Eastern  States  is  about 
$13,522,000.  The  profits  of  the  bank  in  183 1,  as  shown 
in  a  statement  to  Congress,  were  about  $3,455,598;  of  this 
there  accrued  in  the  nine  Western  States  about  $1,640,048; 
in  the  four  Southern  States  about  $352,507,  and  in  the  Mid- 
dle and  Eastern  States  about  $1,463,041.  As  little  stock  is 
held  in  the  West,  it  is  obvious  that  the  debt  of  the  people  in 
that  section  to  the  bank  is  principally  a  debt  to  the  Eastern 
and  foreign  stockholders;  that  the  interest  they  pay  upon  it 
is  carried  into  the  Eastern  States  and  into  Europe,  and  that 
it  is  a  burden  upon  their  industry  and  a  drain  of  their  cur- 
rency, which  no  country  can  bear  without  inconvenience  and 
occasional  distress.  To  meet  this  burden  and  equalize  the 
exchange  operations  of  the  bank,  the  amount  of  specie  drawn 
from  those  States  through  its  branches  within  the  last  two 
years,  as  shown  by  its  official  reports,  was  about  $6,000,000. 
More  than  half  a  million  of  this  amount  does  not  stop  in  the 
Eastern  States,  but  passes  on  to  Europe  to  pay  the  dividends 
of  the  foreign  stockholders.  In  the  principle  of  taxation 
recognized  by  this  act  the  Western  States  find  no  adequate 
compensation  for  this  perpetual  burden  on  their  industry 
and  drain  of  their  currency.  The  branch  bank  at  Mobile 
made  last  year  $95,140,  yet  under  the  provisions  of  this  act 
the  State  of  Alabama  can  raise  no  revenue  from  these  prof- 
itable operations,  because  not  a  share  of  the  stock  is  held  by 
any  of  her  citizens.  Mississippi  and  Missouri  are  in  the 
same  condition  in  relation  to  the  branches  at  Natchez  and 
St.  Louis,  and  such,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  is  the  con- 
dition of  every  Western  State.  The  tendency  of  the  plan  of 
taxation  which  this  act  proposes  will  be  to  place  the  whole 


Veto  Message  i6i 

United  States  in  the  same  relation  to  foreign  countries 
which  the  Western  States  now  bear  to  the  Eastern.  When 
by  a  tax  on  resident  stockholders  the  stock  of  this  bank  is 
made  worth  lo  or  15  per  cent  more  to  foreigners  than  to 
residents,  most  of  it  will  inevitably  leave  the  country. 

Thus  will  this  provision  in  its  practical  effect  deprive  the 
Eastern  as  w^U  as  the  Southern  and  Western  States  of  the 
means  of  raising  a  revenue  from  the  extension  of  business 
and  great  profits  of  this  institution.  It  will  make  the  Amer- 
ican people  debtors  to  aliens  in  nearly  the  whole  amount  due 
to  this  bank,  and  send  across  the  Atlantic  from  two  to  five 
millions  of  specie  every  year  to  pay  the  bank  dividends. 

In  another  of  its  bearings  this  provision  is  fraught  with 
danger.  Of  the  twenty-five  directors  of  this  bank  five  are 
chosen  by  the  Government  and  twenty  by  the  citizen  stock- 
holders. From  all  voice  in  these  elections  the  foreign  stock- 
holders are  excluded  by  the  charter.  In  proportion,  there- 
fore, as  the  stock  is  transferred  to  foreign  holders  the  extent 
of  suffrage  in  the  choice  of  directors  is  curtailed.  Already 
is  almost  a  third  of  the  stock  in  foreign  hands  and  not  rep- 
resented in  elections.  It  is  constantly  passing  out  of  the 
country,  and  this  act  will  accelerate  its  departure.  The  en- 
tire control  of  the  institution  would  necessarily  fall  into  the 
hands  of  a  few  citizen  stockholders,  and  the  ease  with  which 
the  object  would  be  accomplished  would  be  a  temptation  to 
designing  men  to  secure  that  control  in  their  own  hands  by 
monopolizing  the  remaining  stock.  There  is  danger  that  a 
president  and  directors  would  then  be  able  to  elect  them- 
selves from  year  to  year,  and  without  responsibility  or  con- 
trol manage  the  whole  concerns  of  the  bank  during  the  ex- 
istence of  its  charter.  It  is  easy  to  conceive  that  great  evils 
to  our  country  and  its  institutions  might  flow  from  such  a 
concentration  of  power  in  the  hands  of  a  few  men  irre- 
sponsible to  the  people. 

Is  there  no  danger  to  our  liberty  and  independence  in  a 
bank  that  in  its  nature  has  so  little  to  bind  it  to  our  country  ? 
The  president  of  the  bank  has  told  us  that  most  of  the  State 
banks  exist  by  its  forbearance.     Should  its  influence  become 


1 62  Andrew  Jackson 

concentered,  as  it  may  under  the  operation  of  such  an  act  as 
this,  in  the  hands  of  a  self-elected  directory  whose  interests 
are  identified  with  those  of  the  foreign  stockholders,  will 
there  not  be  cause  to  tremble  for  the  purity  of  our  elections 
in  peace  and  for  the  independence  of  our  country  in  war? 
Their  power  would  be  great  whenever  they  might  choose 
to  exert  it;  but  if  this  monopoly  were  regularly  renewed 
every  fifteen  or  twenty  years  on  terms  proposed  by  them- 
selves, they  might  seldom  in  peace  put  forth  their  strength 
to  influence  elections  or  control  the  affairs  of  the  nation. 
But  if  any  private  citizen  or  public  functionary  should  inter- 
pose to  curtail  its  powers  or  prevent  a  renewal  of  its  privi- 
leges, it  can  not  be  doubted  that  he  would  be  made  to  feel  its 
influence. 

Should  the  stock  of  the  bank  principally  pass  into  the 
hands  of  the  subjects  of  a  foreign  country,  and  we  should 
unfortunately  become  involved  in  a  war  with  that  country, 
what  would  be  our  condition  ?  Of  the  course  which  would 
be  pursued  by  a  bank  almost  wholly  owned  by  the  subjects 
of  a  foreign  power,  and  managed  by  those  whose  interests, 
if  not  affections,  would  run  in  the  same  direction  there  can 
be  no  doubt.  All  its  operations  within  would  be  in  aid  of 
the  hostile  fleets  and  armies  without.  Controlling  our  cur- 
rency, receiving  our  public  moneys,  and  holding  thousands 
of  our  citizens  in  dependence,  it  would  be  more  formidable 
and  dangerous  than  the  naval  and  military  power  of  the 
enemy. 

If  we  must  have  a  bank  with  private  stockholders,  every 
consideration  of  sound  policy  and  every -impulse  of  Ameri- 
can feeling  admonishes  that  it  should  be  purely  American. 
Its  stockholders  should  be  composed  exclusively  of  our  own 
citizens,  who  at  least  ought  to  be  friendly  to  our  Govern- 
ment and  willing  to  support  it  in  times  of  difficulty  and 
danger.  So  abundant  is  domestic  capital  that  competition  in 
subscribing  for  the  stock  of  local  banks  has  recently  led  al- 
most to  riots.  To  a  bank  exclusively  of  American  stock- 
holders, possessing  the  powers  and  privileges  granted  by 
this  act,  subscriptions  for  $200,000,000  could  be  readily  ob- 


Veto  Message  163 

tained.  Instead  of  sending  abroad  the  stock  of  the  bank  in 
which  the  Government  must  deposit  its  funds  and  on  which 
it  must  rely  to  sustain  its  credit  in  times  of  emergency,  it 
would  rather  seem  to  be  expedient  to  prohibit  its  sale  to 
aliens  under  penalty  of  absolute  forfeiture. 

It  is  maintained  by  the  advocates  of  the  bank  that  its  con- 
stitutionality in  all  its  features  ought  to  be  considered  as 
settled  by  precedent  and  by  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  To  this  conclusion  I  can  not  assent.  Mere  precedent 
is  a  dangerous  source  of  authority,  and  should  not  be  re- 
garded as  deciding  questions  of  constitutional  power  except 
where  the  acquiescence  of  the  people  and  the  States  can  be 
considered  as  well  settled.  So  far  from  this  being  the  case 
on  this  subject,  an  argument  against  the  bank  might  be  based 
on  precedent.  One  Congress,  in  1791,  decided  in  favor  of 
a  bank ;  another,  in  181 1,  decided  against  it.  One  Congress, 
in  18 1 5,  decided  against  a  bank;  another,  in  18 16,  decided 
in  its  favor.  Prior  to  the  present  Congress,  therefore,  the 
precedents  drawn  from  that  source  were  equal.  If  we  re- 
sort to  the  States,  the  expressions  of  legislative,  judicial, 
and  executive  opinions  against  the  bank  have  been  probably 
to  those  in  its  favor  as  4  to  i.  There  is  nothing  in  prece- 
dent, therefore,  which,  if  its  authority  were  admitted,  ought 
to  weigh  in  favor  of  the  act  before  me. 

If  the  opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court  covered  the  whole 
ground  of  this  act,  it  ought  not  to  control  the  coordinate 
authorities  of  this  Government.  The  Congress,  the  Exec- 
utive, and  the  Court  must  each  for  itself  be  guided  by  its 
own  opinion  of  the  Constitution.  Each  public  officer  who 
takes  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  swears  that  he 
will  support  it  as  he  understands  it,  and  not  as  it  is  under- 
stood by  others.  It  is  as  much  the  duty  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  of  the  Senate,  and  of  the  President  to 
decide  upon  the  constitutionality  of  any  bill  or  resolution 
which  may  be  presented  to  them  for  passage  or  approval 
as  it  is  of  the  supreme  judges  when  it  may  be  brought  be- 
fore them  for  judicial  decision.  The  opinion  of  the  judges 
has  no  more  authority  over  Congress  than  the  opinion  of 


164  Andrew  Jackson 

Congress  has  over  the  judges,  and  on  that  point  the  Presi- 
dent is  independent  of  both.  The  authority  of  the  Supreme 
Court  must  not,  therefore,  be  permitted  to  control  the  Con- 
gress or  the  Executive  when  acting  in  their  legislative  ca- 
pacities, but  to  have  only  such  influence  as  the  force  of  their 
reasoning  may  deserve. 

But  in  the  case  relied  upon  the  Supreme  Court  have  not 
decided  that  all  the  features  of  this  corporation  are  com- 
patible with  the  Constitution.  It  is  true  that  the  court  have 
said  that  the  law  incorporating  the  bank  is  a  constitutional 
exercise  of  power  by  Congress;  but  taking  into  view  the 
whole  opinion  of  the  court  and  the  reasoning  by  which  they 
have  come  to  that  conclusion,  I  understand  them  to  have 
decided  that  inasmuch  as  a  bank  is  an  appropriate  means  for 
carrying  into  effect  the  enumerated  powers  of  the  General 
Government,  therefore  the  law  incorporating  it  is  in  ac- 
cordance with  that  provision  of  the  Constitution  which  de- 
clares that  Congress  shall  have  power  "  to  make  all  laws 
which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  those 
powers  into  execution."  Having  satisfied  themselves  that 
the  word  "  necessary  "  in  the  Constitution  means  "  need- 
ful," "  requisite,"  "  essential,"  "  conducive  to,"  and  that  "  a 
bank  "  is  a  convenient,  a  useful,  and  essential  instrument 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  Government's  "  fiscal  operations," 
they  conclude  that  to  "  use  one  must  be  within  the  discretion 
of  Congress  "  and  that  "  the  act  to  incorporate  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States  is  a  law  made  in  pursuance  of  the  Consti- 
tution;" "  but,"  say  they,  "where  the  law  is  not  prohibited 
and  is  really  calculated  to  effect  any  of  the  objects  intrusted 
to  the  Government,  to  undertake  here  to  inquire  into  the  de- 
gree of  its  necessity  would  be  to  pass  the  line  which  circum- 
scribes the  judicial  department  and  to  tread  on  legislative 
ground." 

The  principle  here  affirmed  is  that  the  "  degree  of  its 
necessity,"  involving  all  the  details  of  a  banking  institution, 
is  a  question  exclusively  for  legislative  consideration.  A 
bank  is  constitutional,  but  it  is  the  province  of  the  Legis- 
lature to  determine  whether  this  or  that  particular  power, 


Veto  Message  165 

privilege,  or  exemption  is  "  necessary  and  proper  "  to  en- 
able the  bank  to  discharge  its  duties  to  the  Government, 
and  from  their  decision  there  is  no  appeal  to  the  courts  of 
justice.  Under  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  there- 
fore, it  is  the  exclusive  province  of  Congress  and  the  Pres- 
ident to  decide  whether  the  particular  features  of  this  act 
are  necessary  and  proper  in  order  to  enable  the  bank  to  per- 
form conveniently  and  efficiently  the  public  duties  assigned 
to  it  as  a  fiscal  agent,  and  therefore  constitutional,  or  unnec- 
cessary  and  improper,  and  therefore  unconstitutional. 

Without  commenting  on  the  general  principle  affirmed  by 
the  Supreme  Court,  let  us  examine  the  details  of  this  act  in 
accordance  with  the  rule  of  legislative  action  which  they 
have  laid  down.  It  will  be  found  that  many  of  the  powers 
and  privileges  conferred  on  it  can  not  be  supposed  neces- 
sary for  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  proposed  to  be  created, 
and  are  not,  therefore,  means  necessary  to  attain  the  end 
in  view,  and  consequently  not  justified  by  the  Constitution. 

The  original  act  of  incorporation,  section  21,  enacts 
"  that  no  other  bank  shall  be  established  by  any  future  law 
of  the  United  States  during  the  continuance  of  the  corpora- 
tion hereby  created,  for  which  the  faith  of  the  United  States 
is  hereby  pledged :  Provided,  Congress  may  renew  existing 
charters  for  banks  within  the  District  of  Columbia  not  in- 
creasing the  capital  thereof,  and  may  also  establish  any 
other  bank  or  banks  in  said  District  with  capitals  not  ex- 
ceeding in  the  whole  6,000,000  if  they  shall  deem  it  ex- 
pedient." This  provision  is  continued  in  force  by  the  act 
before  me  fifteen  years  from  the  3d  of  March,  1836. 

If  Congress  possessed  the  power  to  establish  one  bank, 
they  had  power  to  establish  more  than  one  if  in  their  opin- 
ion two  or  more  banks  had  been  "necessary"  to  facilitate  the 
execution  of  the  powers  delegated  to  them  in  the  Constitu- 
tion. If  they  possessed  the  power  to  establish  a  second  bank, 
it  was  a  power  derived  from  the  Constitution  to  be  exercised 
from  time  to  time,  and  at  any  time  when  the  interests  of  the 
country  or  the  emergencies  of  the  Government  might  make 
it  expedient.     It  was  possessed  by  one  Congress  as  well  as 


1 66  Andrew  Jackson 

another,  and  by  all  Congresses  alike,  and  alike  at  every  ses- 
sion. But  the  Congress  of  1816  have  taken  it  away  from 
their  successors  for  twenty  years,  and  the  Congress  of  1832 
proposes  to  abolish  it  for  fifteen  years  more.  It  can  not  be 
"  necessary  "  or  "  proper''  for  Congress  to  barter  away  or 
divest  themselves  of  any  of  the  powers  vested  in  them  by 
the  Constitution  to  be  exercised  for  the  public  good.  It  is 
not  "  necessary "  to  the  efficiency  of  the  bank,  nor  is  it 
"  proper "  in  relation  to  themselves  and  their  successors. 
They  may  properly  use  the  discretion  vested  in  them,  but 
they  may  not  limit  the  discretion  of  their  successors.  This 
restriction  on  themselves  and  grant  of  a  monopoly  to  the 
bank  is  therefore  unconstitutional. 

In  another  point  of  view  this  provision  is  a  palpable  at- 
tempt to  amend  the  Constitution  by  an  act  of  legislation. 
The  Constitution  declares  that  "  the  Congress  shall  have 
power  to  exercise  exclusive  legislation  in  all  cases  whatso- 
ever "  over  the  District  of  Columbia.  Its  constitutional 
power,  therefore,  to  establish  banks  in  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia and  increase  their  capital  at  will  is  unlimited  and 
uncontrollable  by  any  other  power  than  that  which  gave  au- 
thority to  the  Constitution.  Yet  this  act  declares  that  Con- 
gress shall  not  increase  the  capital  of  existing  banks,  nor 
create  other  banks  with  capitals  exceeding  in  the  w^hole  $6,- 
000,000.  The  Constitution  declares  that  Congress  shall 
have  power  to  exercise  exclusive  legislation  over  this  Dis- 
trict "  in  all  cases  zvhatsoever,"  and  this  act  declares  they 
shall  not.  Which  is  the  supreme  law  of  the  land?  This 
provision  can  not  be  "  necessary  "  or  "  proper  "  or  consti- 
tutional unless  the  absurdity  be  admitted  that  whenever  it 
be  "  necessary  and  proper  "  in  the  opinion  of  Congress  they 
have  a  right  to  barter  away  one  portion  of  the  powers  vested 
in  them  by  the  Constitution  as  a  means  of  executing  the  rest. 

On  two  subjects  only  does  the  Constitution  recognize  in 
Congress  the  power  to  grant  exclusive  privileges  or  monop- 
olies. It  declares  that  "  Congress  shall  have  power  to  pro- 
mote the  progress  of  science  and  useful  arts  by  securing  for 
limited  times  to  authors  and  inventors  the  exclusive  right  to 


Veto  Message  167 

their  respective  writings  and  discoveries."  Out  of  this  ex- 
press delegation  of  power  have  grown  our  laws  of  patents 
and  copyrights.  As  the  Constitution  expressly  delegates  to 
Congress  the  power  to  grant  exclusive  privileges  in  these 
cases  as  the  means  of  executing  the  substantive  power  "  to 
promote  the  progress  of  science  and  useful  arts,"  it  is  con- 
sistent with  the  fair  rules  of  construction  to  conclude  that 
such  a  power  was  not  intended  to  be  granted  as  a  means  of 
accomplishing  any  other  end.  On  every  other  subject  which 
comes  within  the  scope  of  Congressional  power  there  is  an 
ever-living  discretion  in  the  use  of  proper  means,  which 
can  not  be  restricted  or  abolished  without  an  amendment  of 
the  Constitution.  Every  act  of  Congress,  therefore,  which 
attempts  by  grants  of  monopolies  or  sale  of  exclusive  priv- 
ileges for  a  limited  time,  or  a  time  without  limit,  to  restrict 
or  extinguish  its  own  discretion  in  the  choice  of  means  to 
execute  its  delegated  powers  is  equivalent  to  a  legislative 
amendment  of  the  Constitution,  and  palpably  unconstitu- 
tional. 

This  act  authorizes  and  encourages  transfers  of  its  stock 
to  foreigners  and  grants  them  an  exemption  from  all  State 
and  national  taxation.  So  far  from  being  "  necessary  and 
proper  "  that  the  bank  should  possess  this  power  to  make  it 
a  safe  and  efficient  agent  of  the  Government  in  its  fiscal  op- 
erations, it  is  calculated  to  convert  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  into  a  foreign  bank,  to  impoverish  our  people  in  time 
of  peace,  to  disseminate  a  foreign  influence  through  every 
section  of  the  Republic,  and  in  war  to  endanger  our  inde- 
pendence. 

The  several  States  reserved  the  power  at  the  formation 
of  the  Constitution  to  regulate  and  control  titles  and  trans- 
fers of  real  property,  and  most,  if  not  all,  of  them  have  laws 
disqualifying  aliens  from  acquiring  or  holding  lands  within 
their  limits.  But  this  act,  in  disregard  of  the  undoubted 
right  of  the  States  to  prescribe  such  disqualifications,  gives 
to  aliens  stockholders  in  this  bank  an  interest  and  title,  as 
members  of  the  corporation,  to  all  the  real  property  it  may 
acquire  within  any  of  the  States  of  this  Union.    This  privi- 


1 68  Andrew  Jackson 

lege  granted  to  aliens  is  not  "  necessary  "  to  enable  the  banlc 
to  perform  its  public  duties,  nor  in  any  sense  "  proper,"  be- 
cause it  is  vitally  subversive  of  the  rights  of  the  States. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  have  no  constitu- 
tional power  to  purchase  lands  within  the  States  except  "  for 
the  erection  of  forts,  magazines,  arsenals,  dockyards,  and 
other  needful  buildings,"  and  even  for  these  objects  only 
"  by  the  consent  of  the  legislature  of  the  State  in  which  the 
same  shall  be."  By  making  themselves  stockholders  in  the 
bank  and  granting  to  the  corporation  the  power  to  purchase 
lands  for  other  purposes  they  assume  a  power  not  granted 
in  the  Constitution  and  grant  to  others  what  they  do  not 
themselves  possess.  It  is  not  necessary  to  the  receiving, 
safe-keeping,  or  transmission  of  the  funds  of  the  Govern- 
ment that  the  bank  should  possess  this  power,  and  it  is 
not  proper  that  Congress  should  thus  enlarge  the  powers 
delegated  to  them  in  the  Constitution. 

The  old  Bank  of  the  United  States  possessed  a  capital  of 
only  $11,000,000,  which  was  found  fully  sufficient  to  enable 
it  with  dispatch  and  safety  to  perform  all  the  functions  re- 
quired of  it  by  the  Government.  The  capital  of  the  present 
bank  is  $35,000,000 — at  least  twenty-four  more  than  ex- 
perience has  proved  to  be  necessary  to  enable  a  bank  to  per- 
form its  public  functions.  The  public  debt  which  existed 
during  the  period  of  the  old  bank  and  on  the  establishment 
of  the  new  has  been  nearly  paid  ofif,  and  our  revenue  will 
soon  be  reduced.  This  increase  of  capital  is  therefore  not 
for  public  but  for  private  purposes. 

The  Government  is  the  only  "  proper  "  judge  where  its 
agents  should  reside  and  keep  their  offices,  because  it  best 
knows  where  their  presence  will  be  "  necessary.^'  It  can 
not,  therefore,  be  "  tieccssary  "  or  "  proper  "  to  authorize 
the  bank  to  locate  branches  where  it  pleases  to  perform  the 
l)ubhc  service,  without  consulting  the  Government,  and  con- 
trary to  its  will.  The  principle  laid  down  by  the  Supreme 
Court  concedes  that  Congress  can  not  establish  a  bank  for 
purposes  of  private  speculation  and  gain,  but  only  as  a  means 
of  executing  the  delegated  powers  of  the  General  Govern- 


Veto  Message  169 

ment.  By  the  same  principle  a  branch  bank  can  not  consti- 
tutionally be  established  for  other  than  public  purposes. 
The  power  which  this  act  gives  to  establish  two  branches  in 
any  State,  without  the  injunction  or  request  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  for  other  than  public  purposes,  is  not  "  neces- 
sary "  to  the  due  execution  of  the  powers  delegated  to  Con- 
gress. 

The  bonus  which  is  exacted  from  the  bank  is  a  confession 
upon  the  face  of  the  act  that  the  powers  granted  by  it  are 
greater  than  are  "  necessary  "  to  its  character  of  a  fiscal 
agent.  The  Government  does  not  tax  its  officers  and  agents 
for  the  privilege  of  serving  it.  The  bonus  of  a  million  and 
a  half  required  by  the  original  charter  and  that  of  three  mil- 
lions proposed  by  this  act  are  not  exacted  for  the  privilege 
of  giving  "  the  necessary  facilities  for  transferring  the  pub- 
lic funds  from  place  to  place  within  the  United  States  or 
the  Territories  thereof,  and  for  distributing  the  same  in  pay- 
ment of  the  public  creditors  without  charging  commission 
or  claiming  allowance  on  account  of  the  difference  of  ex- 
change," as  required  by  the  act  of  incorporation,  but  for 
something  more  beneficial  to  the  stockholders.  The  origi- 
nal act  declares  that  it  (the  bonus)  is  granted  "  in  consider- 
ation of  the  exclusive  privileges  and  benefits  conferred  by 
this  act  upon  the  said  bank,"  and  the  act  before  me  declares 
it  to  be  "  in  consideration  of  the  exclusive  benefits  and  priv- 
ileges continued  by  this  act  to  the  said  corporation  for  fif- 
teen years,  as  aforesaid."  It  is  therefore  for  "  exclusive 
privileges  and  benefits  "  conferred  for  their  own  use  and 
emolument,  and  not  for  the  advantage  of  the  Government, 
that  a  bonus  is  exacted.  These  surplus  powers  for  which 
the  bank  is  required  to  pay  can  not  surely  be  "  necessary  " 
to  make  it  the  fiscal  agent  of  the  Treasury.  If  they  were, 
the  exaction  of  a  bonus  for  them  would  not  be  "  proper." 

It  is  maintained  by  some  that  the  bank  is  a  means  of  exe- 
cuting the  constitutional  power  "  to  coin  money  and  regu- 
late the  value  thereof."  Congress  have  established  a  mint 
to  coin  money  and  passed  laws  to  regulate  the  value  thereof. 
The   money   so  coined,   with   its   value   so   regulated,   and 


I/O  Andrew  Jackson 

such  foreign  coins  as  Congress  may  adopt  are  the  only 
currency  known  to  the  Constitution.  But  if  they  have 
other  power  to  regulate  the  currency,  it  was  conferred 
to  be  exercised  by  themselves,  and  not  to  be  trans- 
ferred to  a  corporation.  If  the  bank  be  established  for  that 
purpose,  with  a  charter  unalterable  without  its  consent,  Con- 
gress have  parted  with  their  power  for  a  term  of  years,  dur- 
ing which  the  Constitution  is  a  dead  letter.  It  is  neither 
necessary  nor  proper  to  transfer  its  legislative  power  to 
such  a  bank,  and  therefore  unconstitutional. 

By  its  silence,  considered  in  connection  with  the  decision 
of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  case  of  McCulloch  against  the 
State  of  Maryland,  this  act  takes  from  the  States  the  power 
to  tax  a  portion  of  the  banking  business  carried  on  within 
their  limits,  in  subversion  of  one  of  the  strongest  barriers 
which  secured  them  against  Federal  encroachments.  Bank- 
ing, like  farming,  manufacturing,  or  any  other  occupation 
or  profession,  is  a  business,  the  right  to  follow  which  is  not 
originally  derived  from  the  laws.  Every  citizen  and  every 
company  of  citizens  in  all  of  our  States  possessed  the  right 
until  the  State  legislatures  deemed  it  good  policy  to  prohibit 
private  banking  by  law.  If  the  prohibitory  State  laws  were 
now  repealed,  every  citizen  w^ould  again  possess  the  right. 
The  State  banks  are  a  qualified  restoration  of  the  right 
which  has  been  taken  away  by  the  laws  against  banking, 
guarded  by  such  provisions  and  limitations  as  in  the  opinion 
of  the  State  legislatures  the  public  interest  requires.  These 
corporations,  unless  there  be  an  exemption  in  their  charter, 
are,  like  private  bankers  and  banking  companies,  subject 
to  State  taxation.  The  manner  in  which  these  taxes  shall  be 
laid  depends  wholly  on  legislative  discretion.  It  may  be 
upon  the  bank,  upon  the  stock,  upon  the  profits,  or  in  any 
other  mode  which  the  sovereign  power  shall  will. 

Upon  the  formation  of  the  Constitution  the  States 
guarded  their  taxing  power  with  peculiar  jealousy.  They 
surrendered  it  only  as  it  regards  imports  and  exports.  In  re- 
lation to  every  other  object  within  their  jurisdiction,  whether 
persons,  property,  business,  or  professions,  it  was  secured 


Veto  Message  171 

in  as  ample  a  manner  as  it  was  before  possessed.  All  per- 
sons, though  United  States  officers,  are  liable  to  a  poll  tax 
by  the  States  within  which  they  reside.  The  lands  of  the 
United  States  are  liable  to  the  usual  land  tax,  except  in  the 
new  States,  from  whom  agreements  that  they  will  not  tax 
unsold  lands  are  exacted  when  they  are  admitted  into  the 
Union.  Horses,  wagons,  any  beasts  or  vehicles,  tools,  or 
property  belonging  to  private  citizens,  though  employed  in 
the  service  of  the  United  States,  are  subject  to  State  taxa- 
tion. Every  private  business,  whether  carried  on  by  an  offi- 
cer of  the  General  Government  or  not,  whether  it  be  mixed 
with  public  concerns  or  not,  even  if  it  be  carried  on  by  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  itself,  separately  or  in 
partnership,  falls  within  the  scope  of  the  taxing  power  of 
the  State.  Nothing  comes  more  fully  within  it  than  banks 
and  the  business  of  banking,  by  whomsoever  instituted  and 
carried  on.  Over  this  whole  subject-matter  it  is  just  as 
absolute,  unlimited,  and  uncontrollable  as  if  the  Constitution 
had  never  been  adopted,  because  in  the  formation  of  that 
instrument  it  was  reserved  without  qualification. 

The  principle  is  conceded  that  the  States  can  not  right- 
fully tax  the  operations  of  the  General  Government.  They 
can  not  tax  the  money  of  the  Government  deposited  in  the 
State  banks,  nor  the  agency  of  those  banks  in  remitting  it ; 
but  will  any  man  maintain  that  their  mere  selection  to  per- 
form this  public  service  for  the  General  Government  would 
exempt  the  State  banks  and  their  ordinary  business  from 
State  taxation?  Had  the  United  States  instead  of  establish- 
ing a  bank  at  Philadelphia,  employed  a  private  banker  to 
keep  and  transmit  their  funds,  would  it  have  deprived  Penn- 
sylvania of  the  right  to  tax  his  bank  and  his  usual  banking 
operations  ?  It  will  not  be  pretended.  Upon  what  principle, 
then,  are  the  banking  establishments  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  and  their  usual  banking  operations  to  be  ex- 
empted from  taxation  ?  It  is  not  their  public  agency  or  the 
deposits  of  the  Government  which  the  States  claim  a  right  to 
tax,  but  their  banks  and  their  banking  powers,  instituted 
and  exercised  within   State  jurisdiction  for  their  private 


1/2  Andrew  Jackson 

emolument— those  powers  and  privileges  for  which  they  pay 
a  bonus,  and  which  the  States  tax  in  their  own  banks.  The 
exercise  of  these  powers  within  a  State,  no  matter  by  whom 
or  under  what  authority,  whether  by  private  citizens  in  their 
original  right,  by  corporate  bodies  created  by  the  States,  by 
foreigners  or  the  agents  of  foreign  governments  located 
within  their  limits,  forms  a  legitimate  object  of  State  tax- 
ation. From  this  and  like  sources,  from  the  persons,  prop- 
erty, and  business  that  are  found  residing,  located,  or  car- 
ried on  under  their  jurisdiction,  must  the  States,  since  the 
surrender  of  their  right  to  raise  a  revenue  from  imports  and 
exports,  draw  all  the  money  necessary  for  the  support  of 
their  governments  and  the  maintenance  of  their  independ- 
ence. There  is  no  more  appropriate  subject  of  taxation  than 
banks,  banking,  and  bank  stocks,  and  none  to  which  the 
States  ought  more  pertinaciously  to  cling. 

It  can  not  be  necessary  to  the  character  of  the  bank  as  a 
fiscal  agent  of  the  Government  that  its  private  business 
should  be  exempted  from  that  taxation  to  which  all  the 
State  banks  are  liable,  nor  can  I  conceive  it  "  proper  "  that 
the  substantive  and  most  essential  powers  reserved  by  the 
States  shall  be  thus  attacked  and  annihilated  as  a  means  of 
executing  the  powers  delegated  to  the  General  Government. 
It  may  be  safely  assumed  that  none  of  those  sages  who 
had  an  agency  in  forming  or  adopting  our  Constitution  ever 
imagined  that  any  portion  of  the  taxing  power  of  the  States 
not  prohibited  to  them  nor  delegated  to  Congress  was  to 
be  swept  away  and  annihilated  as  a  means  of  executing  cer- 
tain powers  delegated  to  Congress. 

If  our  power  over  means  is  so  absolute  that  the  Supreme 
Court  will  not  call  in  question  the  constitutionality  of  an 
act  of  Congress  the  subject  of  which  "  is  not  prohibited,  and 
is  really  calculated  to  effect  any  of  the  objects  intrusted  to 
the  Government,"  although,  as  in  the  case  before  me,  it 
takes  away  powers  expressly  granted  to  Congress  and  rights 
scrupulously  reserved  to  the  States,  it  becomes  us  to  pro- 
ceed in  our  legislation  with  the  utmost  caution.  Though 
not  directly,  our  own  powers  and  the  rights  of  the  States 


Veto  Message  i73 

may  be  indirectly  legislated  away  in  the  use  of  means  to 
execute  substantive  powers.  We  may  not  enact  that  Con- 
gress shall  not  have  the  power  of  exclusive  legislation  over 
the  District  of  Columbia,  but  we  may  pledge  the  faith  of 
the  United  States  that  as  a  means  of  executing  other  powers 
it  shall  not  be  exercised  for  twenty  years  or  forever.  We 
may  not  pass  an  act  prohibiting  the  States  to  tax  the  bank- 
ing business  carried  on  within  their  limits,  but  we  may,  as 
a  means  of  executing  our  powers  over  other  objects,  place 
that  business  in  the  hands  of  our  agents  and  then  declare 
it  exempt  from  State  taxation  in  their  hands.  Thus  may 
our  own  powers  and  the  rights  of  the  States,  which  we  can 
not  directly  curtail  or  invade,  be  frittered  away  and  extin- 
guished in  the  use  of  means  employed  by  us  to  execute  other 
powers.  That  a  bank  of  the  United  States,  competent  to  all 
the  duties  which  may  be  required  by  the  Government,  might 
be  so  organized  as  not  to  infringe  on  our  own  delegated 
powers  or  the  reserved  rights  of  the  States  I  do  not  enter- 
tain a  doubt.  Had  the  Executive  been  called  upon  to  fur- 
nish the  project  of  such  an  institution,  the  duty  would  have 
been  cheerfully  performed.  In  the  absence  of  such  a  call  it 
was  obviously  proper  that  he  should  confine  himself  to 
pointing  out  those  prominent  features  in  the  act  presented 
which  in  his  opinion  make  it  incompatible  with  the  Consti- 
tution and  sound  policy.  A  general  discussion  will  now 
take  place,  eliciting  new  light  and  settling  important  princi- 
ples; and  a  new  Congress,  elected  in  the  midst  of  such  dis- 
cussion, and  furnishing  an  equal  representation  of  the  peo- 
ple according  to  the  last  census,  will  bear  to  the  Capitol  the 
verdict  of  public  opinion,  and,  I  doubt  not,  bring  this  impor- 
tant question  to  a  satisfactory  result. 

Under  such  circumstances  the  bank  comes  forward  and 
asks  a  renewal  of  its  charter  for  a  term  of  fifteen  years  upon 
conditions  which  not  only  operate  as  a  gratuity  to  the  stock- 
holders of  many  millions  of  dollars,  but  will  sanction  any 
abuses  and  legalize  any  encroachments. 

Suspicions  are  entertained  and  charges  are  made  of  gross 
abuse  and  violation  of  its  charter.     An  investigation  un- 


174  Andrew  Jackson 

willingly  conceded  and  so  restricted  in  time  as  necessarily 
to  make  it  incomplete  and  unsatisfactory  discloses  enough 
to  excite  suspicion  and  alarm.  In  the  practices  of  the  prin- 
cipal bank  partially  unveiled,  in  the  absence  of  important 
witnesses,  and  in  numerous  charges  confidently  made  and 
as  yet  wholly  uninvestigated  there  was  enough  to  induce  a 
majority  of  the  committee  of  investigation — a  committee 
which  was  selected  from  the  most  able  and  honorable  mem- 
bers of  the  House  of  Representatives — to  recommend  a 
suspension  of  further  action  upon  the  bill  and  a  prosecu- 
tion of  the  inquiry.  As  the  charter  had  yet  four  years  to 
run,  and  as  a  renewal  now  w^as  not  necessary  to  the  success- 
ful prosecution  of  its  business,  it  was  to  have  been  expected 
that  the  bank  itself,  conscious  of  its  purity  and  proud  of  its 
character,  would  have  withdraw'n  its  application  for  the 
present,  and  demanded  the  severest  scrutiny  into  all  its 
transactions.  In  their  declining  to  do  so  there  seems  to  be 
an  additional  reason  why  the  functionaries  of  the  Govern- 
ment should  proceed  with  less  haste  and  more  caution  in 
the  renewal  of  their  monopoly. 

The  bank  is  professedly  established  as  an  agent  of  the 
executive  branch  of  the  Government,  and  its  constitutional- 
ity is  maintained  on  that  ground.  Neither  upon  the  pro- 
priety of  present  action  nor  upon  the  provisions  of  this  act 
was  the  Executive  consulted.  It  has  had  no  opportunity  to 
say  that  it  neither  needs  nor  wants  an  agent  clothed  with 
such  powers  and  favored  by  such  exemptions.  There  is 
nothing  in  its  legitimate  functions  which  makes  it  neces- 
saiy  or  proper.  Whatever  interest  or  influence,  whether 
public  or  private,  has  given  birth  to  this  act,  it  can  not  be 
found  either  in  the  wishes  or  necessities  of  the  executive 
department,  by  which  present  action  is  deemed  premature, 
and  the  powers  conferred  upon  its  agent  not  only  unneces- 
sary, but  dangerous  to  the  Government  and  country. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  rich  and  powerful  too  often 
bend  the  acts  of  government  to  their  selfish  purposes.  Dis- 
tinctions in  society  will  always  exist  under  every  just  gov- 
ernment.   Equality  of  talents,  of  education,  or  of  wealth  can 


Veto  Message  ^75 

!iot  be  produced  by  human  institutions.  In  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  the  gifts  of  Heaven  and  the  fruits  of  superior  in- 
dustry, economy,  and  virtue,  every  man  is  equally  entitled 
to  protection  by  law;  but  when  the  laws  undertake  to  add 
to  these  natural  and  just  advantages  artificial  distinctions, 
to  grant  titles,  gratuities,  and  exclusive  privileges,  to  make 
the  rich  richer  and  the  potent  more  powerful,  the  humble 
members  of  society — the  farmers,  mechanics,  and  laborers 
— who  have  neither  the  time  nor  the  means  of  securing  like 
favors  to  themselves,  have  a  right  to  complain  of  the  in- 
justice of  their  Government.  There  are  no  necessary  evils 
in  government.  Its  evils  exist  only  in  its  abuses.  If  it 
would  confine  itself  to  equal  protection,  and,  as  Heaven  does 
it  rains,  shower  its  favors  alike  on  the  high  and  the  low, 
the  rich  and  the  poor,  it  would  be  an  unqualified  blessing. 
In  the  act  before  me  there  seems  to  be  a  wide  and  unnec- 
essary departure  from  these  just  principles. 

Nor  is  our  Government  to  be  maintained  or  our  Union 
preserved  by  invasions  of  the  rights  and  powers  of  the  sev- 
eral States.  In  thus  attempting  to  make  our  General  Gov- 
ernment strong  we  make  it  weak.  Its  true  strength  con- 
sists in  leaving  individuals  and  States  as  much  as  possible  to  y^ 
themselves — in  making  itself  felt,  not  in  its  power,  but  in  its  ^ 
beneficence ;  not  in  its  control,  but  in  its  protection ;  not  in 
binding  the  States  more  closely  to  the  center,  but  leaving 
each  to  move  unobstructed  in  its  proper  orbit. 

Experience  should  teach  us  wisdom.  Most  of  the  diffi- 
culties our  Government  now  encounters  and  most  of  the 
dangers  which  impend  over  our  Union  have  sprung  from 
an  abandonment  of  the  legitimate  objects  of  Government 
by  our  national  legislation,  and  the  adoption  of  such  prin- 
ciples as  are  embodied  in  this  act.  Many  of  our  rich  men 
have  not  been  content  with  equal  protection  and  equal  bene- 
fits, but  have  besought  us  to  make  them  richer  by  act  of 
Congress.  By  attempting  to  gratify  their  desires  we  have 
in  the  results  of  our  legislation  arrayed  section  against  sec- 
tion, interest  against  interest,  and  man  against  man,  in  a 
fearful  commotion  which  threatens  to  shake  the  foundations 


176  Andrew  Jackson 

of  our  Union.  It  is  time  to  pause  in  our  career  to  review 
our  principles,  and  if  possible  revive  that  devoted  patriot- 
ism and  spirit  of  compromise  which  distinguished  the  sages 
of  the  Revolution  and  the  fathers  of  our  Union.  If  we  can 
not  at  once,  in  justice  to  interests  vested  under  improvident 
legislation,  make  our  Government  what  it  ought  to  be,  we 
can  at  least  take  a  stand  against  all  new  grants  of  monopo- 
lies and  exclusive  privileges,  against  any  prostitution  of  our 
Government  to  the  advancement  of  the  few  at  the  expense 
of  the  many,  and  in  favor  of  compromise  and  gradual  re- 
form in  our  code  of  laws  and  system  of  political  economy. 
I  have  now  done  my  duty  to  my  country.  If  sustained 
by  my  fellow-citizens,  I  shall  be  grateful  and  happy;  if  not, 
I  shall  find  in  the  motives  which  impel  me  ample  grounds 
for  contentment  and  peace.  In  the  difficulties  which  sur- 
round us  and  the  dangers  which  threaten  our  institutions 
there  is  cause  for  neither  dismay  nor  alarm.  For  relief  and 
deliverance  let  us  firmly  rely  on  that  kind  Providence  which 
I  am  sure  watches  with  peculiar  care  over  the  destinies  of 
our  Republic,  and  on  the  intelligence  and  wisdom  of  our 
countrymen.  Through  His  abundant  goodness  and  their 
patriotic  devotion  our  liberty  and  Union  will  be  preserved. 


Fourth  Annual   Message.* 

(December  4,  1832.) 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives: It  gives  me  pleasure  to  congratulate  you  upon  your 
return  to  the  seat  of  Government  for  the  purpose  of  dis- 
charging your  duties  to  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
Although  the  pestilence  which  had  traversed  the  Old  World 
has  entered  our  limits  and  extended  its  ravages  over  much 
of  our  land,  it  has  pleased  Almighty  God  to  mitigate  its 
severity  and  lessen  the  number  of  its  victims  compared  with 
those  who  have  fallen  in  most  other  countries  over  which  it 
has  spread  its  terrors.  Notwithstanding  this  visitation,  our 
country  presents  on  every  side  marks  of  prosperity  and  hap- 
piness unequaled,  perhaps,  in  any  other  portion  of  the  world. 
If  we  fully  appreciate  our  comparative  condition,  existing 
causes  of  discontent  will  appear  unworthy  of  attention,  and, 
with  hearts  of  thankfulness  to  that  divine  Being  who  has 
filled  our  cup  of  prosperity,  we  shall  feel  our  resolution 
strengthened  to  preserve  and  hand  down  to  posterity  that 
liberty  and  that  union  which  we  have  received  from  our 
fathers,  and  which  constitute  the  sources  and  the  shield  of 
all  our  blessings. 

The  relations  of  our  country  continue  to  present  the  same 
picture  of  amicable  intercourse  that  I  had  the  satisfaction  to 

*  This  message  may  most  profitably  be  read  in  connection  with  the 
general  history  of  the  country  at  the  time  (see  Bibliography).  It  re- 
views, (1)  international  affairs;  (2)  state  of  trade  and  commerce;  (3) 
affairs  with  South  America;  (4)  public  finance;  (5)  extinction  of  the 
public  debt;  (6)  domestic  manufactures;  (7)  the  tariff;  (8)  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States;  (9)  disposition  of  the  public  funds;  (10)  internal 
improvement;  (11)  Indian  affairs;  (12)  the  Federal  judiciary;  (13) 
powers  of  the  Federal  Government. 

177 


178  Andrew  Jackson 

hold  up  to  your  view  at  the  opening  of  your  last  session. 
The  same  friendly  professions,  the  same  desire  to  partici- 
pate in  our  flourishing  commerce,  the  same  disposition  to 
refrain  from  injuries  unintentionally  offered,  are.  with  few 
exceptions,  evinced  by  all  nations  with  whom  we  have  any 
intercourse.  This  desirable  state  of  things  may  be  mainly 
ascribed  to  our  undeviating  practice  of  the  rule  which  has 
long  guided  our  national  policy,  to  require  no  exclusive 
privileges  in  commerce  and  to  grant  none.  It  is  daily  pro- 
ducing its  beneficial  effect  in  the  respect  shown  to  our  flag, 
the  protection  of  our  citizens  and  their  property  abroad,  and 
in  the  increase  of  our  navigation  and  the  extension  of  our 
mercantile  operations.  The  returns  which  have  been  made 
out  since  we  last  met  will  show  an  increase  during  the  last 
preceding  year  of  more  than  80,000  tons  in  our  shipping 
and  of  near  $40,000,000  in  the  aggregate  of  our  imports 
and  exports. 

Nor  have  we  less  reason  to  felicitate  ourselves  on  the  posi- 
tion of  our  political  than  of  our  commercial  concerns.  They 
remain  in  the  state  in  which  they  were  when  I  last  addressed 
you — a  state  of  prosperity  and  peace,  the  effect  of  a  wise 
attention  to  the  parting  advice  of  the  revered  Father  of  his 
Country  on  this  subject,  condensed  into  a  maxim  for  the 
use  of  posterity  by  one  of  his  most  distinguished  succes- 
sors— to  cultivate  free  commerce  and  honest  friendship  with 
all  nations,  but  to  make  entangling  alliances  with  none.  A 
strict  adherence  to  this  policy  has  kept  us  aloof  from  the 
perplexing  questions  that  now  agitate  the  European  world 
and  have  more  than  once  deluged  those  countries  with 
blood.  Should  those  scenes  unfortunately  recur,  the  parties 
to  the  contest  may  count  on  a  faithful  performance  of  the 
duties  incumbent  on  us  as  a  neutral  nation,  and  our  own 
citizens  may  equally  rely  on  the  firm  assertion  of  their 
neutral  rights. 

With  the  nation  that  was  our  earliest  friend  and  ally  in 
the  infancy  of  our  political  existence  the  most  friendly  rela- 
tions have  subsisted  through  the  late  revolutions  of  its  Gov- 
ernment, and,  from  the  events  of  the  last,  promise  a  per- 


Fourth  Annual  Message  i79 

manent  duration.  It  has  made  an  approximation  in  some 
of  its  political  institutions  to  our  own,  and  raised  a  mon- 
arch to  the  throne  who  preserves,  it  is  said,  a  friendly  rec- 
ollection of  the  period  during  which  he  acquired  among  our 
citizens  the  high  consideration  that  could  then  have  been 
produced  by  his  personal  qualifications  alone. 

Our  commerce  with  that  nation  is  gradually  assuming  a 
mutually  beneficial  character,  and  the  adjustment  of  the 
claims  of  our  citizens  has  removed  the  only  obstacle  there 
was  to  an  intercourse  not  only  lucrative,  but  productive  of 
literary  and  scientific  improvement. 

From  Great  Britain  I  have  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you 
that  I  continue  to  receive  assurances  of  the  most  amicable 
disposition,  which  have  on  my  part  on  all  proper  occasions 
been  promptly  and  sincerely  reciprocated.  The  attention  of 
that  Government  has  latterly  been  so  much  engrossed  by 
matters  of  a  deeply  interesting  domestic  character  that  we 
could  not  press  upon  it  the  renewal  of  negotiations  which 
had  been  unfortunately  broken  off  by  the  unexpected  re- 
call of  our  minister,  who  had  commenced  them  with  some 
hopes  of  success.  My  great  object  was  the  settlement  of 
questions  wdiich,  though  now  dormant,  might  hereafter  be 
revived  under  circumstances  that  would  endanger  the  good 
understanding  which  it  is  the  interest  of  both  parties  to  pre- 
serve inviolate,  cemented  as  it  is  by  a  community  of  lan- 
guage, manners,  and  social  habits,  and  by  the  high  obliga- 
tions we  owe  to  our  British  ancestors  for  many  of  our 
most  valuable  institutions  and  for  that  system  of  represen- 
tative government  which  has  enabled  us  to  preserve  and 
improve  them. 

The  question  of  our  northeastern  boundary  still  remains 
unsettled.  In  my  last  annual  message  I  explained  to  you 
the  situation  in  which  I  found  that  business  on  my  coming 
into  office,  and  the  measures  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  pursue 
for  asserting  the  rights  of  the  United  States  before  the  sov- 
ereign who  had  been  chosen  by  my  predecessor  to  determine 
the  question,  and  also  the  manner  in  which  he  had  disposed 
of  it.     A  special  message  to  the  Senate  in  their  executive 


i8o  Andrew  Jackson 

capacity  afterwards  brought  before  them  the  question 
whether  they  would  advise  a  submission  to  the  opinion  of 
the  sovereign  arbiter.  That  body  having  considered  the 
award  as  not  obhgatory  and  advised  me  to  open  a  further 
negotiation,  the  proposition  was  immediately  made  to  the 
British  Government,  but  the  circumstances  to  which  I  have 
alluded  have  hitherto  prevented  any  answer  being  given  to 
the  overture.  Early  attention,  however,  has  been  promised 
to  the  subject,  and  every  effort  on  my  part  will  be  made  for 
a  satisfactory  settlement  of  this  question,  interesting  to  the 
Union  generally,  and  particularly  so  to  one  of  its  members. 

The  claims  of  our  citizens  on  Spain  are  not  yet  acknowl- 
edged. On  a  closer  investigation  of  them  than  appears  to 
have  heretofore  taken  place  it  was  discovered  that  some  of 
these  demands,  however  strong  they  might  be  upon  the 
equity  of  that  Government,  were  not  such  as  could  be  made 
the  subject  of  national  interference;  and  faithful  to  the 
principle  of  asking  nothing  but  what  was  clearly  right,  ad- 
ditional instructions  have  been  sent  to  modify  our  demands 
so  as  to  embrace  those  only  on  which,  according  to  the  laws 
of  nations,  we  had  a  strict  right  to  insist.  An  inevitable 
delay  in  procuring  the  documents  necessary  for  this  review 
of  the  merits  of  these  claims  retarded  this  operation  until 
an  unfortunate  malady  which  has  afflicted  His  Catholic 
Majesty  prevented  an  examination  of  them.  Being  now  for 
the  first  time  presented  in  an  unexceptionable  form,  it  is  con- 
fidently hoped  that  the  application  will  be  successful. 

I  have  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you  that  the  application 
I  directed  to  be  made  for  the  delivery  of  a  part  of  the  arch- 
ives of  Florida,  which  had  been  carried  to  The  Havannah, 
has  produced  a  royal  order  for  their  delivery,  and  that  meas- 
ures have  been  taken  to  procure  its  execution. 

By  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  State  communicated  to 
you  on  the  25th  June  last  you  were  informed  of  the  condi- 
tional reduction  obtained  by  the  minister  of  the  United 
States  at  Madrid  of  the  duties  on  tonnage  levied  on  Ameri- 
can shipping  in  the  ports  of  Spain.  The  condition  of  that 
reduction  having  been  complied  with  on  our  part  by  the 


Fourth  Annual  Message  i^i 

act  passed  the  13th  of  July  last,  I  have  the  satisfaction  to 
inform  you  that  our  ships  now  pay  no  higher  nor  other 
duties  in  the  continental  ports  of  Spain  than  are  levied  on 
their  national  vessels. 

The  demands  against  Portugal  for  illegal  captures  in 
the  blockade  of  Terceira  have  been  allowed  to  the  full 
amount  of  the  accounts  presented  by  the  claimants,  and  pay- 
ment was  promised  to  be  made  in  three  installments.  The 
first  of  these  has  been  paid;  the  second,  although  due,  had 
not  at  the  date  of  our  last  advices  been  received,  owing,  it 
was  alleged,  to  embarrassments  in  the  finances  consequent 
on  the  civil  war  in  which  that  nation  is  engaged. 

The  payments  stipulated  by  the  convention  with  Den- 
mark have  been  punctually  made,  and  the  amount  is  ready 
for  distribution  among  the  claimants  as  soon  as  the  board, 
now  sitting,  shall  have  performed  their  functions. 

I  regret  that  by  the  last  advices  from  our  charge  d'affaires 
at  Naples  that  Government  had  still  delayed  the  satisfaction 
due  to  our  citizens,  but  at  that  date  the  effect  of  the  last 
instructions  was  not  known.  Dispatches  from  thence  are 
hourly  expected,  and  the  result  will  be  communicated  to  you 
without  delay. 

With  the  rest  of  Europe  our  relations,  political  and  com- 
mercial, remain  unchanged.  Negotiations  are  going  on  to 
put  on  a  permanent  basis  the  liberal  system  of  commerce 
now  carried  on  between  us  and  the  Empire  of  Russia.  The 
treaty  concluded  with  Austria  is  executed  by  His  Imperial 
Majesty  with  the  most  perfect  good  faith,  and  as  we  have 
no  diplomatic  agent  at  his  Court  he  personally  inquired 
into  and  corrected  a  proceeding  of  some  of  his  subaltern 
officers  to  the  injury  of  our  consul  in  one  of  his  ports. 

Our  treaty  with  the  Sublime  Porte  is  producing  its  ex- 
pected effects  on  our  commerce.  New  markets  are  opening 
for  our  commodities  and  a  more  extensive  range  for  the 
employment  of  our  ships.  A  slight  augmentation  of  the 
duties  on  our  commerce,  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  the 
treaty,  had  been  imposed,  but  on  the  representation  of  our 
charge  d'affaires  it  has  been  promptly  withdrawn,  and  we 


1 82  Andrew  Jackson 

now  enjoy  the  trade  and  navigation  of  the  Black  Sea  and  of 
all  the  ports  belonging  to  the  Turkish  Empire  and  Asia  on 
the  most  perfect  equality  with  all  foreign  nations. 

I  wish  earnestly  that  in  announcing  to  you  the  continu- 
ance of  friendship  and  the  increase  of  a  profitable  com- 
mercial intercourse  with  Mexico,  with  Central  America,  and 
the  States  of  the  South  I  could  accompany  it  with  the  as- 
surance that  they  all  are  blessed  wnth  that  internal  tran- 
quillity and  foreign  peace  which  their  heroic  devotion  to  the 
cause  of  their  independence  merits.  In  Mexico  a  sanguin- 
ary struggle  is  now  carried  on,  which  has  caused  some  em- 
barrassment to  our  commerce,  but  both  parties  profess  the 
most  friendly  disposition  toward  us.  To  the  termination  of 
this  contest  we  look  for  the  establishment  of  that  secure  in- 
tercourse so  necessary  to  nations  whose  territories  are  con- 
tiguous. How  important  it  will  be  to  us  we  may  calculate 
from  the  fact  that  even  in  this  unfavorable  state  of  things 
our  maritime  commerce  has  increased,  and  an  internal  trade 
by  caravans  from  St.  Louis  to  Santa  Fe,  under  the  protection 
of  escorts  furnished  by  the  Government,  is  carried  on  to 
great  advantage  and  is  daily  increasing.  The  agents  pro- 
vided for  by  the  treaty,  with  this  power  to  designate  the 
boundaries  which  it  established,  have  been  named  on  our 
part,  but  one  of  the  evils  of  the  civil  war  now  raging  there 
has  been  that  the  appointment  of  those  with  whom  they 
were  to  cooperate  has  not  yet  been  announced  to  us. 

The  Government  of  Central  America  has  expelled  from 
its  territory  the  party  which  some  time  since  disturbed  its 
peace.  Desirous  of  fostering  a  favorable  disposition  toward 
us,  which  has  on  more  than  one  occasion  been  evinced  by 
this  interesting  country,  I  made  a  second  attempt  in  this 
year  to  establish  a  diplomatic  intercourse  with  them;  but 
the  death  of  the  distinguished  citizen  \vhom  I  had  appointed 
for  that  purpose  has  retarded  the  execution  of  measures 
from  which  I  hoped  much  advantage  to  our  commerce. 
The  union  of  the  three  States  which  formed  the  Republic  of 
Colombia  has  been  dissolved,  but  they  all,  it  is  believed,  con- 
sider themselves  as  separately  bound  by  the  treaty  which 


Fourth  Annual  Message  183 

was  made  in  their  federal  capacity.  The  minister  accredited 
to  the  federation  continues  in  that  character  near  the  Gov- 
ernment of  New  Granada,  and  hopes  were  entertained  that 
a  new  union  would  be  formed  between  the  separate  States, 
at  least  for  the  purposes  of  foreign  intercourse.  Our  min- 
ister has  been  instructed  to  use  his  good  offices,  whenever 
they  shall  be  desired,  to  produce  the  reunion  so  much  to  be 
wished  for,  the  domestic  tranquillity  of  the  parties,  and  the 
security  and  facility  of  foreign  commerce. 

Some  agitations  naturally  attendant  on  an  infant  reign 
have  prevailed  in  the  Empire  of  Brazil,  which  have  had 
the  usual  effect  upon  commercial  operations,  and  while  they 
suspended  the  consideration  of  claims  created  on  similar 
occasions,  they  have  given  rise  to  new  complaints  on  the 
part  of  our  citizens,  A  proper  consideration  for  calamities 
and  difficulties  of  this  nature  has  made  us  less  urgent  and 
peremptory  in  our  demands  for  justice  than  duty  to  our 
fellow-citizens  would  under  other  circumstances  have  re- 
quired. But  their  claims  are  not  neglected,  and  will  on  all 
proper  occasions  be  urged,  and  it  is  hoped  with  effect. 

I  refrain  from  making  any  communication  on  the  sub- 
ject of  our  affairs  with  Buenos  Ayres,  because  the  negotia- 
tion communicated  to  you  in  my  last  annual  message  was 
at  the  date  of  our  last  advices  still  pending  and  in  a  state 
that  would  render  a  publication  of  the  details  inexpedient. 

A  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  has  been  formed  with 
the  Republic  of  Chili,  which,  if  approved  by  the  Senate, 
will  be  laid  before  you.  That  Government  seems  to  be  es- 
tablished, and  at  peace  with  its  neighbors;  and  its  ports 
being  the  resorts  of  our  ships  which  are  employed  in  the 
highly  important  trade  of  the  fisheries,  this  commercial  con- 
vention can  not  but  be  of  great  advantage  to  our  fellow- 
citizens  engaged  in  that  perilous  but  profitable  business. 

Our  commerce  with  the  neighboring  State  of  Peru,  owing 
to  the  onerous  duties  levied  on  our  principal  articles  of  ex- 
port, has  been  on  the  decline,  and  all  endeavors  to  procure 
an  alteration  have  hitherto  proved  fruitless.  With  Bolivia 
we  have  yet  no  diplomatic  intercourse,  and  the  continual 


184  Andrew   Jackson 

contests  carried  on  between  it  and  Peru  have  made  me  de- 
fer until  a  more  favorable  period  the  appointment  of  any 
agent  for  that  purpose. 

An  act  of  atrocious  piracy  having  been  committed  on  one 
of  our  trading  ships  by  the  inhabitants  of  a  settlement  on 
the  west  coast  of  Sumatra,  a  frigate  was  dispatched  with 
orders  to  demand  satisfaction  for  the  injury  if  those  who 
committed  it  should  be  found  to  be  members  of  a  regular 
government,  capable  of  maintaining  the  usual  relations  with 
foreign  nations;  but  if,  as  it  was  supposed  and  as  they 
proved  to  be,  they  were  a  band  of  lawless  pirates,  to  inflict 
such  a  chastisement  as  would  deter  them  and  others  from 
like  aggressions.  This  last  was  done,  and  the  efifect  has 
been  an  increased  respect  for  our  flag  in  those  distant  seas 
and  additional  security  for  our  commerce. 

In  the  view  I  have  given  of  our  connection  with  foreign 
powers  allusions  have  been  made  to  their  domestic  disturb- 
ances or  foreign  wars,  to  their  revolutions  or  dissensions. 
It  may  be  proper  to  observe  that  this  is  done  solely  in  cases 
where  those  events  affect  our  political  relations  with  them, 
or  to  show  their  operation  on  our  commerce.  Further  than 
this  it  is  neither  our  policy  nor  our  right  to  interfere.  Our 
best  wishes  on  all  occasions,  our  good  ofiices  when  required, 
will  be  afforded  to  promote  the  domestic  tranquillity  and 
foreign  peace  of  all  nations  with  whom  we  have  any  inter- 
course. Any  intervention  in  their  affairs  further  than  this, 
even  by  the  expression  of  an  official  opinion,  is  contrary  to 
our  principles  of  international  policy,  and  will  always  be 
avoided. 

The  report  which  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  will  in 
due  time  lay  before  you  will  exhibit  the  national  finances 
in  a  highly  prosperous  state.  Owing  to  the  continued  suc- 
cess of  our  commercial  enterprise,  which  has  enabled  the 
merchants  to  fulfill  their  engagements  with  the  Government, 
the  receipts  from  customs  during  the  year  will  exceed  the 
estimate  presented  at  the  last  session,  and  with  the  other 
means  of  the  Treasury  will  prove  fully  adequate  not  only  to 
meet  the  increased  expenditures  resulting  from  the  large 


Fourth  Annual  Message  185 

appropriations  made  by  Congress,  but  to  provide  for  the 
payment  of  all  the  public  debt  which  is  at  present  redeem- 
able. It  is  now  estimated  that  the  customs  will  yield  to  the 
Treasury  during  the  present  year  upward  of  $28,000,000. 
The  public  lands,  however,  have  proved  less  productive  than 
was  anticipated,  and  according  to  present  information  will 
not  much  exceed  two  millions.  The  expenditures  for  all 
objects  other  than  the  public  debt  are  estimated  to  amount 
during  the  year  to  about  sixteen  millions  and  a  half,  while 
a  still  larger  sum,  viz,  $18,000,000,  will  have  been  applied 
to  the  principal  and  interest  of  the  public  debt. 

It  is  expected,  however,  that  in  consequence  of  the  re- 
duced rates  of  duty  which  will  take  effect  after  the  3d  of 
March  next  there  will  be  a  considerable  falling  off  in  the 
revenue  from  customs  in  the  year  1833.  It  will  nevertheless 
be  amply  sufficient  to  provide  for  all  the  wants  of  the  public 
service,  estimated  even  upon  a  liberal  scale,  and  for  the  re- 
demption and  purchase  of  the  remainder  of  the  public  debt. 
On  the  1st  of  January  next  the  entire  public  debt  of  the 
United  States,  funded  and  unfunded,  will  be  reduced  to 
within  a  fraction  of  $7,000,000,  of  which  $2,227,363  are 
not  of  right  redeemable  until  the  ist  of  January,  1834,  and 
$4,735,296  not  until  the  2d  of  January,  1835.  The  com- 
missioners of  the  sinking  funds,  however,  being  invested 
with  full  authority  to  purchase  the  debt  at  the  market  price, 
and  the  means  of  the  Treasury  being  ample,  it  may  be 
hoped  that  the  whole  will  be  extinguished  within  the  year 

1833- 

I  can  not  too  cordially  congratulate  Congress  and  my 
fellow-citizens  on  the  near  approach  of  that  memorable  and 
happy  event — the  extinction  of  the  public  debt  of  this  great 
and  free  nation.  Faithful  to  the  wise  and  patriotic  policy 
marked  out  by  the  legislation  of  the  country  for  this  object, 
the  present  Administration  has  devoted  to  it  all  the  means 
which  a  flourishing  commerce  has  supplied  and  a  prudent 
economy  preserved  for  the  public  Treasury.  Within  the 
four  years  for  which  the  people  have  confided  the  Executive 
power  to  my  charge  $58,000,000  will  have  been  applied  to 


1 86  Andrew  Jackson 

the  payment  of  the  public  debt.  That  this  has  been  ac- 
comphshed  without  stinting  the  expenditures  for  all  other 
proper  objects  will  be  seen  by  referring  to  the  liberal  pro- 
vision made  during  the  same  period  for  the  support  and  in- 
crease of  our  means  of  maritime  and  military  defense,  for 
internal  improvements  of  a  national  character,  for  the  re- 
moval and  preservation  of  the  Indians,  and,  lastly,  for  the 
gallant  veterans  of  the  Revolution. 

The  final  removal  of  this  great  burthen  from  our  re- 
sources affords  the  means  of  further  provision  for  all  the 
objects  of  general  welfare  and  public  defense  which  the 
Constitution  authorizes,  and  presents  the  occasion  for  such 
further  reduction  in  the  revenue  as  may  not  be  required  for 
them.  From  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  it 
will  be  seen  that  after  the  present  year  such  a  reduction  may 
be  made  to  a  considerable  extent,  and  the  subject  is  earnestly 
recommended  tc  the  consideration  of  Congress  in  the  hope 
that  the  combined  wisdom  of  the  representatives  of  the  peo- 
ple will  devise  such  means  of  effecting  that  salutary  object 
as  may  remove  those  burthens  which  shall  be  found  to  fall 
unequally  upon  any  and  as  may  promote  all  the  great  in- 
terests of  the  community. 

Long  and  patient  reflection  has  strengthened  the  opin- 
ions I  have  heretofore  expressed  to  Congress  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  I  deem  it  my  duty  on  the  present  occasion  again  to 
urge  them  upon  the  attention  of  the  Legislature.  The 
soundest  maxims  of  public  policy  and  the  principles  upon 
which  our  republican  institutions  are  founded  recommend  a 
proper  adaptation  of  the  revenue  to  the  expenditure,  and 
they  also  require  that  the  expenditure  shall  be  limited  to 
what,  by  an  economical  administration,  shall  be  consistent 
with  the  simplicity  of  the  Government  and  necessary  to  an 
efficient  public  service.  In  effecting  this  adjustment  it  is 
due,  in  justice  to  the  interests  of  the  different  States,  and 
even  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union  itself,  that  the  protec- 
tion afforded  by  existing  laws  to  any  branches  of  the  na- 
tional industry  should  not  exceed  what  may  be  necessary  to 
counteract  the  regulations  of  foreign  nations  and  to  secure 


Fourth  Annual  Message  187 

a  supply  of  those  articles  of  manufacture  essential  to  the 
national  independence  and  safety  in  time  of  war.  If  upon 
investigation  it  shall  be  found,  as  it  is  believed  it  will  be, 
that  the  legislative  protection  granted  to  any  particular  in- 
terest is  greater  than  is  indispensably  requisite  for  these  ob- 
jects, I  recommend  that  it  be  gradually  diminished,  and  that 
as  far  as  may  be  consistent  with  these  objects  the  whole 
scheme  of  duties  be  reduced  to  the  revenue  standard  as  soon 
as  a  just  regard  to  the  faith  of  the  Government  and  to  the 
preservation  of  the  large  capital  invested  in  establishments 
of  domestic  industry  will  permit. 

That  manufactures  adequate  to  the  supply  of  our  do- 
mestic consumption  would  in  the  abstract  be  beneficial  to 
our  country  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt,  and  to  effect  their 
establishment  there  is  perhaps  no  American  citizen  who 
would  not  for  awhile  be  willing  to  pay  a  higher  price  for 
them.  But  for  this  purpose  it  is  presumed  that  a  tariff  of 
high  duties,  designed  for  perpetual  protection,  has  entered 
into  the  minds  of  but  few  of  our  statesmen.  The  most  they 
have  anticipated  is  a  temporary  and,  generally,  incidental 
protection,  which  they  maintain  has  the  effect  to  reduce  the 
price  by  domestic  competition  below  that  of  the  foreign 
article.  Experience,  however,  our  best  guide  on  this  as  on 
other  subjects,  makes  it  doubtful  whether  the  advantages  of 
this  system  are  not  counterbalanced  by  many  evils,  and 
whether  it  does  not  tend  to  beget  in  the  minds  of  a  large 
portion  of  our  countrymen  a  spirit  of  discontent  and  jeal- 
ousy dangerous  to  the  stability  of  the  Union. 

What,  then,  shall  be  done?  Large  interests  have  grown 
up  under  the  implied  pledge  of  our  national  legislation, 
which  it  would  seem  a  violation  of  public  faith  suddenly  to 
abandon.  Nothing  could  justify  it  but  the  public  safety, 
which  is  the  supreme  law.  But  those  who  have  vested  their 
capital  in  manufacturing  establishments  can  not  expect  that 
the  people  will  continue  permanently  to  pay  high  taxes  for 
their  benefit,  when  the  money  is  not  required  for  any  legiti- 
mate purpose  in  the  administration  of  the  Government.  Is 
it  not  enough  that  the  high  duties  have  been  paid  as  long  as 


1 88  Andrew  Jackson 

the  money  arising  from  them  could  be  applied  to  the  com- 
mon benefit  in  the  extinguishment  of  the  public  debt? 

Those  who  take  an  enlarged  view  of  the  condition  of  our 
country  must  be  satisfied  that  the  policy  of  protection  must 
be  ultimately  limited  to  those  articles  of  domestic  manu- 
facture which  are  indispensable  to  our  safety  in  time  of  war. 
Within  this  scope,  on  a  reasonable  scale,  it  is  recommended 
by  every  consideration  of  patriotism  and  duty,  which  will 
doubtless  always  secure  to  it  a  liberal  and  efficient  support. 
But  beyond  this  object  we  have  already  seen  the  operation 
of  the  system  productive  of  discontent.  In  some  sections 
of  the  Republic  its  influence  is  deprecated  as  tending  to 
concentrate  wealth  into  a  few  hands,  and  as  creating  those 
germs  of  dependence  and  vice  which  in  other  countries  have 
characterized  the  existence  of  monopolies  and  proved  so 
destructive  of  liberty  and  the  general  good.  A  large  por- 
tion of  the  people  in  one  section  of  the  Republic  declares  it 
not  only  inexpedient  on  these  grounds,  but  as  disturbing  the 
equal  relations  of  property  by  legislation,  and  therefore  un- 
constitutional and  unjust. 

Doubtless  these  effects  are  in  a  great  degree  exaggerated, 
and  may  be  ascribed  to  a  mistaken  view  of  the  considera- 
tions which  led  to  the  adoption  of  the  tariff  system ;  but 
they  are  nevertheless  important  in  enabling  us  to  review  the 
subject  with  a  more  thorough  knowledge  of  all  its  bearings 
upon  the  great  interests  of  the  Republic,  and  with  a  de- 
termination to  dispose  of  it  so  that  none  can  with  justice 
complain. 

It  is  my  painful  duty  to  state  that  in  one  quarter  of  the 
United  States  opposition  to  the  revenue  laws  has  arisen  to 
a  height  which  threatens  to  thwart  their  execution,  if  not 
to  endanger  the  integrity  of  the  Union.  Whatever  obstruc- 
tions may  be  thrown  in  the  way  of  the  judicial  authorities 
of  the  General  Government,  it  is  hoped  they  will  be  able 
peaceably  to  overcome  them  by  the  prudence  of  their  own 
officers  and  the  patriotism  of  the  people.  But  should  this 
reasonable  reliance  on  the  moderation  and  good  sense  of  all 
portions  of  our  fellow-citizens  be  disappointed,  it  is  belicYed 


Fourth  Annual  Message  189 

that  the  laws  themselves  are  fully  adequate  to  the  suppres- 
sion of  such  attempts  as  may  be  immediately  made.  Should 
the  exigency  arise  rendering  the  execution  of  the  existing 
laws  impracticable  from  any  cause  whatever,  prompt  notice 
of  it  will  be  given  to  Congress,  with  a  suggestion  of  such 
views  and  measures  as  may  be  deemed  necessary  to  meet  it. 

In  conformity  with  principles  heretofore  explained,  and 
with  the  hope  of  reducing  the  General  Government  to  that 
simple  machine  which  the  Constitution  created  and  of  with- 
drawing from  the  States  all  other  influence  than  that  of  its 
universal  beneficence  in  preserving  peace,  affording  an  uni- 
form currency,  maintaining  the  inviolability  of  contracts, 
diffusing  intelligence,  and  discharging  unfelt  its  other  sup- 
erintending functions,  I  recommend  that  provision  be  made 
to  dispose  of  all  stocks  now  held  by  it  in  corporations, 
whether  created  by  the  General  or  State  Governments,  and 
placing  the  proceeds  in  the  Treasury.  As  a  source  of  profit 
these  stocks  are  of  little  or  no  value ;  as  a  means  of  influence 
among  the  States  they  are  adverse  to  the  purity  of  our  in- 
stitutions. The  whole  principle  on  which  they  are  based  is 
deemed  by  many  unconstitutional,  and  persist  in  the  policy 
which  they  indicate  is  considered  wholly  inexpedient. 

It  is  my  duty  to  acquaint  you  with  an  arrangement  made 
by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  with  a  portion  of  the 
holders  of  the  3  per  cent  stock,  by  which  the  Government 
will  be  deprived  of  the  use  of  the  public  funds  longer  than 
was  anticipated.  By  this  arrangement,  which  will  be  particu- 
larly explained  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  a  surren- 
der of  the  certificates  of  this  stock  may  be  postponed  until 
October,  1833,  and  thus  the  liability  of  the  Government, 
after  its  ability  to  discharge  the  debt,  may  be  continued  by 
the  failure  of  the  bank  to  perform  its  duties. 

Such  measures  as  are  within  the  reach  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  have  been  taken  to  enable  him  to  judge 
whether  the  public  deposits  in  that  institution  may  be  re- 
garded as  entirely  safe ;  but  as  his  limited  power  may  prove 
inadequate  to  this  object,  I  recommend  the  subject  to  the 
attention  of  Congress,  under  the  firm  belief  that  it  is  worthy 


190  Andrew  Jackson 

of  their  serious  investigation.  An  inquiry  into  the  transac- 
tions of  the  institution,  embracing  the  branches  as  well  as 
the  principal  bank,  seems  called  for  by  the  credit  which  is 
given  throughout  the  country  to  many  serious  charges  im- 
peaching its  character,  and  which  if  true  may  justly  excite 
the  apprehension  that  it  is  no  longer  a  safe  depository  of  the 
money  of  the  people. 

Among  the  interests  which  merit  the  consideration  of 
Congress  after  the  payment  of  the  public  debt,  one  of  the 
most  important,  in  my  view,  is  that  of  the  public  lands. 
Previous  to  the  formation  of  our  present  Constitution  it 
was  recommended  by  Congress  that  a  portion  of  the  waste 
lands  owned  by  the  States  should  be  ceded  to  the  United 
States  for  the  purposes  of  general  harmony  and  as  a  fund 
to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  war.  The  recommendation  was 
adopted,  and  at  different  periods  of  time  the  States  of 
Massachusetts,  New  York,  Virginia,  North  and  South  Car- 
olina, and  Georgia  granted  their  vacant  soil  for  the  uses  for 
which  they  had  been  asked.  As  the  lands  may  now  be  con- 
sidered as  relieved  from  this  pledge,  the  object  for  which 
they  were  ceded  having  been  accomplished,  it  is  in  the  dis- 
cretion of  Congress  to  dispose  of  them  in  such  way  as  best 
to  conduce  to  the  quiet,  harmony,  and  general  interest  of 
the  American  people.  In  examining  this  question  all  local 
and  sectional  feelings  should  be  discarded  and  the  whole 
United  States  regarded  as  one  people,  interested  alike  in 
the  prosperity  of  their  common  country. 

It  can  not  be  doubted  that  the  speedy  settlement  of  these 
lands  constitutes  the  true  interest  of  the  Republic.  The 
wealth  and  strength  of  a  country  are  its  population,  and  the 
best  part  of  that  population  are  the  cultivators  of  the  soil. 
Independent  farmers  are  everywhere  the  basis  of  society 
and  true  friends  of  liberty. 

In  addition  to  these  considerations  questions  have  already 
arisen,  and  may  be  expected  hereafter  to  grow  out  of  the 
public  lands,  which  involve  the  rights  of  the  new  States  and 
the  powers  of  the  General  Government,  and  unless  a  liberal 
policy  be  now  adopted  there  is  danger  that  these  questions 


Fourth  Annual  Message  191 

may  speedily  assume  an  importance  not  now  generally  an- 
ticipated. The  influence  of  a  great  sectional  interest,  when 
brought  into  full  action,  will  be  found  more  dangerous  to 
the  harmony  and  union  of  the  States  than  any  other  cause 
of  discontent,  and  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  and  sound  policy 
to  foresee  its  approaches  and  endeavor  if  possible  to  coun- 
teract them. 

Of  the  various  schemes  which  have  been  hitherto  pro- 
posed in  regard  to  the  disposal  of  the  public  lands,  none  has 
yet  received  the  entire  approbation  of  the  National  Legis- 
lature. Deeply  impressed  with  the  importance  of  a  speedy 
and  satisfactory  arrangement  of  the  subject,  I  deem  it  my 
duty  on  this  occasion  to  urge  it  upon  your  consideration, 
and  to  the  propositions  which  have  been  heretofore  sug- 
gested by  others  to  contribute  those  reflections  which  have 
occurred  to  me,  in  the  hope  that  they  may  assist  you  in  your 
future  deliberations. 

It  seems  to  me  to  be  our  true  policy  that  the  public  lands 
shall  cease  as  soon  as  practicable  to  be  a  source  of  revenue, 
and  that  they  be  sold  to  settlers  in  limited  parcels  at  a  price 
barely  sufficient  to  reimburse  to  the  United  States  the  ex- 
pense of  the  present  system  and  the  cost  arising  under  our 
Indian  compacts.  The  advantages  of  accurate  surveys  and 
undoubted  titles  now  secured  to  purchasers  seem  to  forbid 
the  abolition  of  the  present  system,  because  none  can  be  sub- 
stituted which  will  more  perfectly  accomplish  these  impor- 
tant ends.  It  is  desirable,  however,  that  in  convenient  time 
this  machinery  be  withdrawn  from  the  States,  and  that  the 
right  of  soil  and  the  future  disposition  of  it  be  surrendered 
to  the  States  respectively  in  which  it  lies. 

The  adventurous  and  hardy  population  of  the  West,  be- 
sides contributing  their  equal  share  of  taxation  under  our 
impost  system,  have  in  the  progress  of  our  Government, 
for  the  lands  they  occupy,  paid  into  the  Treasury  a  large 
proportion  of  $40,000,000,  and  of  the  revenue  received 
therefrom  but  a  small  part  has  been  expended  amongst 
them.  When  to  the  disadvantage  of  their  situation  in  this 
respect  we  add  the  consideration  that  it  is  their  labor  alone 


192  Andrew  Jackson 

which  gives  real  value  to  the  lands,  and  that  the  proceeds 
arising  from  their  sale  are  distributed  chiefly  among  States 
which  had  not  originally  any  claim  to  them,  and  which  have 
enjoyed  the  undivided  emolument  arising  from  the  sale 
of  their  own  lands,  it  can  not  be  expected  that  the  new 
States  will  remain  longer  contented  with  the  present  policy 
after  the  payment  of  the  public  debt.  To  avert  the  conse- 
quences which  may  be  apprehended  from  this  cause,  to  put 
an  end  forever  to  all  partial  and  interested  legislation  on 
the  subject,  and  to  afford  to  every  American  citizen  of 
enterprise  the  opportunity  of  securing  an  independent  free- 
hold, it  seems  to  me,  therefore,  best  to  abandon  the  idea 
of  raising  a  future  revenue  out  of  the  public  lands. 

In  former  messages  I  have  expressed  my  conviction  that 
the  Constitution  does  not  warrant  the  application  of  the 
funds  of  the  General  Government  to  objects  of  internal  im- 
provement which  are  not  national  in  their  character,  and, 
both  as  a  means  of  doing  justice  to  all  interests  and  putting 
an  end  to  a  course  of  legislation  calculated  to  destroy 
the  purity  of  the  Government,  have  urged  the  necessity 
of  reducing  the  whole  subject  to  some  fixed  and  certain 
rule.  As  there  never  will  occur  a  period,  perhaps,  more 
propitious  than  the  present  to  the  accomplishment  of  this 
object,  I  beg  leave  to  press  the  subject  again  upon  your 
attention. 

Without  some  general  and  well-defined  principles  ascer- 
taining those  objects  of  internal  improvement  to  which  the 
means  of  the  nation  may  be  constitutionally  applied,  it  is 
obvious  that  the  exercise  of  the  power  can  never  be  satis- 
factory. Besides  the  danger  to  which  it  exposes  Congress 
of  making  hasty  appropriations  to  works  of  the  character 
of  which  they  may  be  frequently  ignorant,  it  promotes  a 
mischievous  and  corrupting  influence  upon  elections  by  hold- 
ing out  to  the  people  the  fallacious  hope  that  the  success  of 
a  certain  candidate  will  make  navigable  their  neighboring 
creek  or  river,  bring  commerce  to  their  doors,  and  increase 
the  value  of  their  propert}-.  It  thus  favors  combinations  to 
squander  the  treasure  of  the  country  upon  a  multitude  of 


Fourth  Annual  Message  i93 

local  objects,  as  fatal  to  just  legislation  as  to  the  purity  of 
public  men. 

If  a  system  compatible  with  the  Constitution  can  not  be 
devised  which  is  free  from  such  tendencies,  we  should  rec- 
ollect that  that  instrument  provides  within  itself  the  mode 
of  its  amendment,  and  that  there  is,  therefore,  no  excuse  for 
the  assumption  of  doubtful  powers  by  the  General  Govern- 
ment. If  those  which  are  clearly  granted  shall  be  found 
incompetent  to  the  ends  of  its  creation,  it  can  at  any  time 
apply  for  their  enlargement;  and  there  is  no  probability  that 
such  an  application,  if  founded  on  the  public  interest,  will 
ever  be  refused.  If  the  propriety  of  the  proposed  grant  be 
not  sufficiently  apparent  to  command  the  assent  of  three- 
fourths  of  the  States,  the  best  possible  reason  why  the  power 
should  not  be  assumed  on  doubtful  authority  is  afforded; 
for  if  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  States  are  unwilling  to 
make  the  grant  its  exercise  will  be  productive  of  discon- 
tents which  will  far  overbalance  any  advantages  that  could 
be  derived  from  it.  All  must  admit  that  there  is  nothing 
so  worthy  of  the  constant  solicitude  of  this  Government  as 
the  harmony  and  union  of  the  people. 

Being  solemnly  impressed  with  the  conviction  that  the  ex- 
tension of  the  power  to  make  internal  improvements  beyond 
the  limit  I  have  suggested,  even  if  it  be  deemed  constitu- 
tional, is  subversive  of  the  best  interests  of  our  country,  I 
earnestly  recommend  to  Congress  to  refrain  from  its  exer- 
cise in  doubtful  cases,  except  in  relation  to  improvements 
already  begun,  unless  they  shall  first  procure  from  the 
States  such  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution  as  will  define 
its  character  and  prescribe  its  bounds.  If  the  States  feel 
themselves  competent  to  these  objects,  why  should  this  Gov- 
ernment wish  to  assume  the  power?  If  they  do  not,  then 
they  will  not  hesitate  to  make  the  grant.  Both  Governments 
are  the  Governments  of  the  people;  improvements  must  be 
made  with  the  money  of  the  people,  and  if  the  money  can 
be  collected  and  applied  by  those  more  simple  and  economi- 
cal political  machines,  the  State  governments,  it  will  un- 
questionably be  safer  and  better  for  the  people  than  to  add 


194  Andrew  Jackson 

to  the  splendor,  the  patronage,  and  the  power  of  the  Gen- 
eral Government.  But  If  the  people  of  the  several  States 
think  otherwise  they  will  amend  the  Constitution,  and  in 
their  decision  all  ought  cheerfully  to  acquiesce. 

For  a  detailed  and  highly  satisfactory  view  of  the  opera- 
tions of  the  War  Department  I  refer  you  to  the  accompany- 
ing report  of  the  Secretary  of  War. 

The  hostile  incursions  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians  neces- 
sarily led  to  the  interposition  of  the  Government.  A  por- 
tion of  the  troops,  under  Generals  Scott  and  Atkinson,  and 
of  the  militia  of  the  State  of  Illinois  were  called  into  the 
field.  After  a  harassing  warfare,  prolonged  by  the  nature 
of  the  country  and  by  the  difficulty  of  procuring  subsistence, 
the  Indians  were  entirely  defeated,  and  the  disaffected  band 
dispersed  or  destroyed.  The  result  has  been  creditable  to 
the  troops  engaged  in  the  service.  Severe  as  is  the  lesson 
to  the  Indians,  it  was  rendered  necessary  by  their  unpro- 
voked aggressions,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  its  impression 
will  be  permanent  and  salutary. 

This  campaign  has  evinced  the  efficient  organization  of 
the  Army  and  its  capacity  for  prompt  and  active  service. 
Its  several  departments  have  performed  their  functions  with 
energy  and  dispatch,  and  the  general  movement  was  satis- 
factory. 

Our  fellow-citizens  upon  the  frontiers  were  ready,  as  they 
always  are,  in  the  tender  of  their  services  in  the  hour  of  dan- 
ger. But  a  more  efficient  organization  of  our  militia  sys- 
tem is  essential  to  that  security  which  is  one  of  the  principal 
objects  of  all  governments.  Neither  our  situation  nor  our 
institutions  require  or  permit  the  maintenance  of  a  large  reg- 
ular force.  History  offers  too  many  lessons  of  the  fatal  re- 
sult of  such  a  measure  not  to  warn  us  against  its  adoption 
here.  The  expense  which  attends  it,  the  obvious  tendency 
to  employ  it  because  it  exists  and  thus  to  engage  in  un- 
necessary wars,  and  its  ultimate  danger  to  public  liberty 
will  lead  us,  I  trust,  to  place  our  principal  dependence  for 
protection  upon  the  great  body  of  the  citizens  of  the  Re- 
public.    If  in  asserting  rights  or  in  repelling  wrongs  war 


Fourth  Annual  Message  i95 

should  come  upon  us,  our  regular  force  should  be  increased 
to  an  extent  proportioned  to  the  emergency,  and  our  pres- 
ent small  Army  is  a  nucleus  around  which  such  force  could 
be  formed  and  embodied.  But  for  the  purposes  of  defense 
under  ordinary  circumstances  we  must  rely  upon  the  elec- 
tors of  the  country.  Those  by  whom  and  for  whom  the 
Government  was  instituted  and  is  supported  will  constitute 
its  protection  in  the  hour  of  danger  as  they  do  its  check  in 
the  hour  of  safety. 

But  it  is  obvious  that  the  militia  system  is  imperfect. 
Much  time  is  lost,  much  unnecessary  expense  incurred,  and 
much  public  property  wasted  under  the  present  arrange- 
ment. Little  useful  knowledge  is  gained  by  the  musters 
and  drills  as  now  established,  and  the  whole  subject  evi- 
dently requires  a  thorough  examination.  Whether  a  plan 
of  classification  remedying  these  defects  and  providing  for 
a  system  of  instruction  might  not  be  adopted  is  submitted  to 
the  consideration  of  Congress.  The  Constitution  has 
vested  in  the  General  Government  an  independent  authority 
upon  the  subject  of  the  militia  which  renders  its  action  es- 
sential to  the  establishment  or  improvement  of  the  system^ 
and  I  recommend  the  matter  to  your  consideration  in  the 
conviction  that  the  state  of  this  important  arm  of  the  public 
defense  requires  your  attention. 

I  am  happy  to  inform  you  that  the  wise  and  humane  pol- 
icy of  transferring  from  the  eastern  to  the  western  side  of 
the  Mississippi  the  remnants  of  our  aboriginal  tribes,  with 
their  own  consent  and  upon  just  terms,  has  been  steadily 
pursued,  and  is  approaching,  I  trust,  its  consummation.  By 
reference  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  and  to  the 
documents  submitted  with  it  you  will  see  the  progress  which 
has  been  made  since  your  last  session  in  the  arrangement  of 
the  various  matters  connected  with  our  Indian  relations. 
With  one  exception  every  subject  involving  any  question  of 
conflicting  jurisdiction  or  of  peculiar  difficulty  has  been 
happily  disposed  of,  and  the  conviction  evidently  gains 
ground  among  the  Indians  that  their  removal  to  the 
country    assigned    by   the    United    States    for    their    per- 


196  Andrew  Jackson 


manent  residence  furnishes  the  only  hope  of  their  ultimate 
prosperity. 

With  that  portion  of  the  Cherokees,  however,  Hving 
within  the  State  of  Georgia  it  has  been  found  imprajcticable 
as  yet  to  make  a  satisfactory  adjustment.  Such  was  my 
anxiety  to  remove  all  the  grounds  of  complaint  and  to  bring 
to  a  termination  the  difficulties  in  which  they  are  involved 
that  I  directed  the  very  liberal  propositions  to  be  made  to 
them  which  accompany  the  documents  herewith  submitted. 
They  can  not  but  have  seen  in  these  offers  the  evidence  of 
the  strongest  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  Government  to 
deal  justly  and  liberally  with  them.  An  ample  indemnity 
was  offered  for  their  present  possessions,  a  liberal  provision 
for  their  future  support  and  improvement,  and  full  security 
for  their  private  and  political  rights.  Whatever  difference 
of  opinion  may  have  prevailed  respecting  the  just  claims  of 
these  people,  there  will  probably  be  none  respecting  the  lib- 
erality of  the  propositions,  and  very  little  respecting  the  ex- 
pediency of  their  immediate  acceptance.  They  were,  how- 
ever, rejected,  and  thus  the  position  of  these  Indians 
remains  unchanged,  as  do  the  views  communicated  in  my 
message  to  the  Senate  of  February  22,  1831. 

I  refer  you  to  the  annual  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  which  accompanies  this  message,  for  a  detail  of  the 
operations  of  that  branch  of  the  service  during  the  present 
year. 

Besides  the  general  remarks  on  some  of  the  transactions 
of  our  Navy  presented  in  the  view  which  has  been  taken  of 
our  foreign  relations,  I  seize  this  occasion  to  invite  to  your 
notice  the  increased  protection  which  it  has  afforded  to  our 
commerce  and  citizens  on  distant  seas  without  any  aug- 
mentation of  the  force  in  commission.  In  the  gradual  im- 
provement of  its  pecuniary  concerns,  in  the  constant  prog- 
ress in  the  collection  of  materials  suitable  for  use  during 
future  emergencies,  and  in  the  construction  of  vessels  and 
the  buildings  necessary  to  their  preservation  and  repair,  the 
present  state  of  this  branch  of  the  service  exhibits  the  fruits 
of  that  vigilance  and  care  which  are  so  indispensable  to  its 


Fourth  Annual  Message  197 

efficiency.  Various  new  suggestions,  contained  in  the  an- 
nexed report,  as  well  as  others  heretofore  submitted  to  Con- 
gress, are  worthy  of  your  attention,  but  none  more  so  than 
that  urging  the  renewal  for  another  term  of  six  years  of  the 
general  appropriation  for  the  gradual  improvement  of  the 
Navy. 

From  the  accompanying  report  of  the  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral you  will  also  perceive  that  that  Department  continues 
to  extend  its  usefulness  without  impairing  its  resources  or 
lessening  the  accommodations  which  it  affords  in  the  se- 
cure and  rapid  transportation  of  the  mail. 

I  beg  leave  to  call  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  views 
heretofore  expressed  in  relation  to  the  mode  of  choosing  the 
President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  and  to 
those  respecting  the  tenure  of  office  generally.  Still  im- 
pressed with  the  justness  of  those  views  and  with  the  belief 
that  the  modifications  suggested  on  those  subjects  if  adopted 
will  contribute  to  the  prosperity  and  harmony  of  the  coun- 
try, I  earnestly  recommend  them  to  your  consideration  at 
this  time. 

I  have  heretofore  pointed  out  defects  in  the  law  for  pun- 
ishing official  frauds,  especially  within  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia. It  has  been  found  almost  impossible  to  bring  no- 
torious culprits  to  punishment,  and,  according  to  a  decision 
of  the  court  for  this  District,  a  prosecution  is  barred  by  a 
lapse  of  two  years  after  the  fraud  has  been  committed.  It 
may  happen  again,  as  it  has  already  happened,  that  during 
the  whole  two  years  all  the  evidences  of  the  fraud  may  be  in 
the  possession  of  the  culprit  himself.  However  proper  the 
limitation  may  be  in  relation  to  private  citizens,  it  would 
seem  that  it  ought  not  to  commence  running  in  favor  of 
public  officers  until  they  go  out  of  office. 

The  judiciary  system  of  the  United  States  remains  im- 
perfect. Of  the  nine  Western  and  Southwestern  States 
three  only  enjoy  the  benefits  of  a  circuit  court,  Ohio,  Ken- 
tucky, and  Tennessee  are  embraced  in  the  general  system, 
but  Indiana,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  and 
Louisiana  have  only  district  courts.     If  the  existing  system 


198  Andrew  Jackson 

be  a  good  one,  why  should  it  not  be  extended?  If  it  be  a 
bad  one,  why  is  it  suffered  to  exist  ?  The  new  States  were 
promised  equal  rights  and  privileges  when  they  came  into 
the  Union,  and  such  are  the  guaranties  of  the  Constitution. 
Nothing*  can  be  more  obvious  than  the  obligation  of  the 
General  Government  to  place  all  the  States  on  the  same 
footing  in  relation  to  the  administration  of  justice,  and  I 
trust  this  duty  will  be  neglected  no  longer. 

On  many  of  the  subjects  to  which  your  attention  is  in- 
vited in  this  communication  it  is  a  source  of  gratification 
to  reflect  that  the  steps  to  be  now  adopted  are  uninfluenced 
by  the  embarrassments  entailed  upon  the  country  by  the 
wars  through  which  it  has  passed.  In  regard  to  most  of 
our  great  interests  we  may  consider  ourselves  as  just  start- 
ing in  our  career,  and  after  a  salutary  experience  about  to 
fix  upon  a  permanent  basis  the  policy  best  calculated  to  pro- 
mote the  happiness  of  the  people  and  facilitate  their  prog- 
ress toward  the  most  complete  enjoyment  of  civil  liberty. 
On  an  occasion  so  interesting  and  important  in  our  history, 
and  of  such  anxious  concern  to  the  friends  of  freedom 
throughout  the  world,  it  is  our  imperious  duty  to  lay  aside 
all  selfish  and  local  considerations  and  be  guided  by  a  lofty 
spirit  of  devotion  to  the  great  principles  on  which  our  insti- 
tutions are  founded. 

That  this  Government  may  be  so  administered  as  to  pre- 
serve its  efficiency  in  promoting  and  securing  these  general 
objects  should  be  the  only  aim  of  our  ambition,  and  we  can 
not,  therefore,  too  carefully  examine  its  structure,  in  order 
that  we  may  not  mistake  its  powers  or  assume  those  which 
the  people  have  reserved  to  themselves  or  have  preferred 
to  assign  to  other  agents.  We  should  bear  constantly  in 
mind  the  fact  that  the  considerations  which  induced  the 
framers  of  the  Constitution  to  withhold  from  the  General 
Government  the  power  to  regulate  the  great  mass  of  the 
business  and  concerns  of  the  people  have  been  fully  justified 
by  experience,  and  that  it  can  not  now  be  doubted  that  the 
genius  of  all  our  institutions  prescribes  simplicity  and  econ- 
omy as  the  characteristics  of  the  reform  which  is  yet  to  be 


Fourth  Annual  Message  199 

effected  in  the  present  and  future  execution  of  the  functions 
bestowed  upon  us  by  the  Constitution. 

Limited  to  a  general  superintending  power  to  maintain 
peace  at  home  and  abroad,  and  to  prescribe  laws  on  a  few 
subjects  of  general  interest  not  calculated  to  restrict  human 
liberty,  but  to  enforce  human  rights,  this  Government  will 
find  its  strength  and  its  glory  in  the  faithful  discharge  of 
these  plain  and  simple  duties.  Relieved  by  its  protecting 
shield  from  the  fear  of  war  and  the  apprehension  of  oppres- 
sion, the  free  enterprise  of  our  citizens,  aided  by  the  State 
sovereignties,  will  work  out  improvements  and  ameliora- 
tions which  can  not  fail  to  demonstrate  that  the  great  truth 
that  the  people  can  govern  themselves  is  not  only  realized  in 
our  example,  but  that  it  is  done  by  a  machinery  in  govern- 
ment so  simple  and  economical  as  scarcely  to  be  felt.  That 
the  Almighty  Ruler  of  the  Universe  may  so  direct  our  de- 
liberations and  overrule  our  acts  as  to  make  us  instrumen- 
tal in  securing  a  result  so  dear  to  mankind  is  my  most  ear- 
nest and  sincere  prayer. 


Message  on  the  South  Carolina  Ordinance 

and  Proclamation  of  Governor 

Hamilton.* 

(January  i6,  1833.) 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives: 

In  my  annual  message  at  the  commencement  of  your 
present  session  I  adverted  to  the  opposition  to  the  revenue 
laws  in  a  particular  quarter  of  the  United  States,  which 
threatened  not  merely  to  thwart  their  execution,  but  to  en- 
danger the  integrity  of  the  Union;  and  although  I  then 
expressed  my  reliance  that  it  might  be  overcome  by  the 
prudence  of  the  officers  of  the  United  States  and  the  patri- 
otism of  the  people,  I  stated  that  should  the  emergency 
arise  rendering  the  execution  of  the  existing  laws  impracti- 
cable from  any  cause  whatever  prompt  notice  should  be 
given  to  Congress,  with  the  suggestion  of  such  views  and 
measures  as  might  be  necessary  to  meet  it. 

Events  which  have  occurred  in  the  quarter  then  alluded 
to,  or  which  have  come  to  my  knowledge  subsequently,  pre- 
sent this  emergency. 

Since  the  date  of  my  last  annual  message  I  have  had  offi- 

♦  This  message  developed  more  in  detail  the  ideas  on  the  general 
subject  expressed  in  the  President's  annual  message,  December  4, 
1832.  "He  knew,"  remarks  Benton,  "that  there  was  a  deep  feeling 
of  discontent  in  the  South,  founded  in  a  conviction  that  the  Federal 
Government  was  working  disadvantageo«usly  to  that  part  of  the 
Union  in  the  vital  points  of  the  levy,  and  the  expenditure  of  the  Fed- 
eral revenue;  and  that  it  was  upon  this  feeling  that  politicians  operated 
to  produce  disaffection  to  the  Union."     Thirty  Years'  View,  I.,  p.  308. 

This  message  should  be  read  in  connection  with  the  letters  given  in 
the  early  part  of  this  volume;  the  Ordinance  of  Nullification  passed  by 
the  South  Carolina  legislature,  November  24,  1832,  reprinted  by 
Benton  (Id.,  pp.  297-298),  and  the  Proclamation  of  the  President  of 
December  lo,  1832;  also,  with  the  general  history  of  the  times.  (See 
Bibliography.) 


Proclamation  201 

cially  transmitted  to  me  by  the  governor  of  South  Carohna, 
which  I  now  communicate  to  Congress,  a  copy  of  the  ordi- 
nance passed  by  the  convention  which  assembled  at  Cohim- 
bia,  in  the  State  of  South  Carohna,  in  November  last,  de- 
claring certain  acts  of  Congress  therein  mentioned  within 
the  limits  of  that  State  to  be  absolutely  null  and  void,  and 
making  it  the  duty  of  the  legislature  to  pass  such  laws  as 
would  be  necessary  to  carry  the  same  into  effect  from  and 
after  the  ist  February  next. 

The  consequences  to  which  this  extraordinary  defiance  of 
the  just  authority  of  the  Government  might  too  surely  lead 
were  clearly  foreseen,  and  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  hesi- 
tate as  to  my  own  duty  in  such  an  emergency. 

The  ordinance  had  been  passed,  however,  without  any 
certain  knowledge  of  the  recommendation  which,  from  a 
view  of  the  interests  of  the  nation  at  large,  the  Executive 
had  determined  to  submit  to  Congress,  and  a  hope  was  in- 
dulged that  by  frankly  explaining  his  sentiments  and  the 
nature  of  those  duties  which  the  crisis  would  devolve  upon 
him  the  authorities  of  South  Carolina  might  be  induced  to 
retrace  their  steps.  In  this  hope  I  determined  to  issue  my 
proclamation  of  the  loth  of  December  last,  a  copy  of  which 
I  now  lay  before  Congress. 

I  regret  to  inform  you  that  these  reasonable  expectations 
have  not  been  realized,  and  that  the  several  acts  of  the  leg- 
islature of  South  Carolina  which  I  now  lay  before  you,  and 
which  have  all  and  each  of  them  finally  passed  after  a 
knowledge  of  the  desire  of  the  Administration  to  modify 
the  laws  complained  of,  are  too  well  calculated  both  in  their 
positive  enactments  and  in  the  spirit  of  opposition  which 
they  obviously  encourage  wholly  to  obstruct  the  collection 
of  the  revenue  within  the  limits  of  that  State. 

Up  to  this  period  neither  the  recommendation  of  the 
Executive  in  regard  to  our  financial  policy  and  impost  sys- 
tem, nor  the  disposition  manifested  by  Congress  promptly 
to  act  upon  that  subject,  nor  the  unequivocal  expression  of 
the  public  will  in  all  parts  of  the  Union  appears  to  have  pro- 
duced any  relaxation  in  the  measures  of  opposition  adopted 


202  Andrew  Jackson 

by  the  State  of  South  CaroHna ;  nor  is  there  any  reason  to 
hope  that  the  ordinance  and  laws  will  be  abandoned. 

I  have  no  knowledge  that  an  attempt  has  been  made,  or 
that  it  is  in  contemplation,  to  reassemble  either  the  con- 
vention or  the  legislature,  and  it  will  be  perceived  that  the 
interval  before  the  ist  of  February  is  too  short  to  admit  of 
the  preliminary  steps  necessary  for  that  purpose.  It  ap- 
pears, moreover,  that  the  State  authorities  are  actively  or- 
ganizing their  military  resources,  and  providing  the  means 
and  giving  the  most  solemn  assurances  of  protection  and 
support  to  all  who  shall  enlist  in  opposition  to  the  revenue 
laws. 

A  recent  proclamation  of  the  present  governor  of  South 
Carolina  has  openly  defied  the  authority  of  the  Executive 
of  the  Union,  and  general  orders  from  the  headquarters  of 
the  State  announced  his  determination  to  accept  the  services 
of  volunteers  and  his  belief  that  should  their  country  need 
their  services  they  will  be  found  at  the  post  of  honor  and 
duty,  ready  to  lay  down  their  lives  in  her  defense.  Under 
these  orders  the  forces  referred  to  are  directed  to  "  hold 
themselves  in  readiness  to  take  the  field  at  a  moment's  warn- 
ing," and  in  the  city  of  Charleston,  within  a  collection  dis- 
trict, and  a  port  of  entry,  a  rendezvous  has  been  opened  for 
the  purpose  of  enlisting  men  for  the  magazine  and  muni- 
cipal guard.  Thus  South  Carolina  presents  herself  in  the 
attitude  of  hostile  preparation,  and  ready  even  for  military 
violence  if  need  be  to  enforce  her  laws  for  preventing  the 
collection  of  the  duties  within  her  limits. 

Proceedings  thus  announced  and  matured  must  be  dis- 
tinguished from  menaces  of  unlawful  resistance  by  irreg- 
ular bodies  of  people,  who,  acting  under  temporary  delu- 
sion, may  be  restrained  by  reflection  and  the  influence  of 
public  opinion  from  the  commission  of  actual  outrage.  In 
the  present  instance  aggression  may  be  regarded  as  com- 
mitted when  it  is  officially  authorized  and  the  means  of  en- 
forcing it  fully  provided. 

Under  these  circumstances  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it 
is  the  determination  of  the  authorities  of  South  Carolina 


Proclamation  203 

fully  to  carry  into  effect  their  ordinance  and  laws  after  the 
I  St  of  February.  It  therefore  becomes  my  duty  to  bring 
the  subject  to  the  serious  consideration  of  Congress,  in  or- 
der that  such  measures  as  they  in  their  wisdom  may  deem 
fit  shall  be  seasonably  provided,  and  that  it  may  be  thereby 
understood  that  while  the  Government  is  disposed  to  re- 
move all  just  cause  of  complaint  as  far  as  may  be  practicable 
consistently  with  a  proper  regard  to  the  interests  of  the 
community  at  large,  it  is  nevertheless  determined  that  the 
supremacy  of  the  laws  shall  be  maintained. 

In  making  this  communication  it  appears  to  me  to  be 
proper  not  only  that  I  should  lay  before  you  the  acts  and 
proceedings  of  South  Carolina,  but  that  I  should  also  fully 
acquaint  you  with  those  steps  which  I  have  already  caused 
to  be  taken  for  the  due  collection  of  the  revenue,  and  with 
my  views  of  the  subject  generally,  that  the  suggestions 
which  the  Constitution  requires  me  to  make  in  regard  to 
your  future  legislation  may  be  better  understood. 

This  subject  having  early  attracted  the  anxious  atten- 
tion of  the  Executive,  as  soon  as  it  was  probable  that  the 
authorities  of  South  Carolina  seriously  meditated  resistance 
to  the  faithful  execution  of  the  revenue  laws  it  was  deemed 
advisable  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  should  particu- 
larly instruct  the  officers  of  the  United  States  in  that  part 
of  the  Union  as  to  the  nature  of  the  duties  prescribed  by 
the  existing  laws. 

Instructions  were  accordingly  issued  on  the  6th  of  No- 
vember to  the  collectors  in  that  State,  pointing  out  their 
respective  duties  and  enjoining  upon  each  a  firm  and  vigi- 
lant but  discreet  performance  of  them  in  the  emergency  then 
apprehended. 

I  herewith  transmit  copies  of  these  instructions  and  of 
the  letter  addressed  to  the  district  attorney,  requesting  his 
cooperation.  These  instructions  were  dictated  in  the  hope 
that  as  the  opposition  to  the  laws  by  the  anomalous  proceed- 
ing of  nullification  was  represented  to  be  of  a  pacific  nature, 
to  be  pursued  substantially  according  to  the  forms  of  the 
Constitution  and  without  resorting  in  any  event  to  force 


204  Andrew  Jackson 

or  violence,  the  measures  of  its  advocates  would  be  taken 
in  conformity  with  that  profession,  and  on  such  supposition 
the  means  afforded  by  the  existing  laws  would  have  been 
adequate  to  meet  any  emergency  likely  to  arise. 

It  was,  however,  not  possible  altogether  to  suppress  ap- 
prehension of  the  excesses  to  which  the  excitement  pre- 
vailing in  that  quarter  might  lead,  but  it  certainly  was  not 
foreseen  that  the  meditated  obstruction  to  the  laws  would 
so  soon  openly  assume  its  present  character. 

Subsequently  to  the  date  of  those  instructions,  however, 
the  ordinance  of  the  convention  was  passed,  which,  if  com- 
plied with  by  the  people  of  the  State,  must  effectually  ren- 
der inoperative  the  present  revenue  laws  within  her  limits. 

That  ordinance  declares  and  ordains — 

That  the  several  acts  and  parts  of  acts  of  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  purporting  to  be  laws  for  the  imposing 
of  duties  and  imposts  on  the  importation  of  foreign  com- 
modities, and  now  having  operation  and  effect  within  the 
United  States,  and  more  especially  "  An  act  in  alteration  of 
the  several  acts  imposing  duties  on  imports,"  approved  on 
the  19th  of  May,  1828,  and  also  an  act  entitled  "  An  act  to 
alter  and  amend  the  several  acts  imposing  duties  on  im- 
ports," approved  on  the  14th  July,  1832,  are  unauthorized 
by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  violate  the 
true  intent  and  meaning  thereof,  and  are  null  and  void  and 
no  law,  nor  binding  upon  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  its 
officers  and  citizens;  and  all  promises,  contracts,  and  obli- 
gations made  or  entered  into,  or  to  be  made  or  entered  into, 
with  purpose  to  secure  the  duties  imposed  by  the  said  acts, 
and  all  judicial  proceedings  which  shall  be  hereafter  had  in 
affirmance  thereof,  are  and  shall  be  held  utterly  null  and 
void. 

It  also  ordains — 

That  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any  of  the  constituted  au- 
thorities, whether  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina  or  of  the 
United  States,  to  enforce  the  payment  of  duties  imposed  by 
the  said  acts  within  the  limits  of  the  State,  but  that  it  shall 


Proclamation  205 

be  the  duty  of  the  legislature  to  adopt  such  measures  and 
pass  such  acts  as  may  be  necessary  to  give  full  effect  to  this 
ordinance  and  to  prevent  the  enforcement  and  arrest  the 
operation  of  the  said  acts  and  parts  of  acts  of  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  within  the  limits  of  the  State  from 
and  after  the  ist  of  February  next;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  all  other  constituted  authorities  and  of  all  other  persons 
residing  or  being  within  the  limits  of  the  State,  and  they 
are  hereby  required  and  enjoined,  to  obey  and  give  effect 
to  this  ordinance  and  such  acts  and  measures  of  the  legis- 
lature as  may  be  passed  or  adopted  in  obedience  thereto. 

It  further  ordains — 

That  in  no  case  of  law  or  equity  decided  in  the  courts  of 
the  State  wherein  shall  be  drawn  in  question  the  authority 
of  this  ordinance,  or  the  validity  of  such  act  or  acts  of  the 
legislature  as  may  be  passed  for  the  purpose  of  giving  ef- 
fect thereto,  or  the  validity  of  the  aforesaid  acts  of  Con- 
gress imposing  duties,  shall  any  appeal  be  taken  or  allowed 
to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  nor  shall  any 
copy  of  the  record  be  permitted  or  allowed  for  that  pur- 
pose; and  the  person  or  persons  attempting  to  take  such 
appeal  may  be  dealt  with  as  for  a  contempt  of  court. 

It  likewise  ordains — 

That  all  persons  holding  any  office  of  honor,  profit,  or 
trust,  civil  or  military,  under  the  State  shall,  within  such 
time  and  in  such  manner  as  the  legislature  shall  prescribe, 
take  an  oath  well  and  truly  to  obey,  execute,  and  enforce 
this  ordinance  and  such  act  or  acts  of  the  legislature  as  may 
be  passed  in  pursuance  thereof,  according  to  the  true  intent 
and  meaning  of  the  same;  and  on  the  neglect  or  omission 
of  any  such  person  or  persons  so  to  do  his  or  their  office  or 
offices  shall  be  forthwith  vacated,  and  shall  be  filled  up  as 
if  such  person  or  persons  were  dead  or  had  resigned.  And 
no  person  hereafter  elected  to  any  office  of  honor,  profit,  or 
trust,  civil  or  military,  shall,  until  the  legislature  shall  other- 
wise provide  and  direct,  enter  on  the  execution  of  his  office 
or  be  in  any  respect  competent  to  discharge  the  duties  there- 


2o6  Andrew  Jackson 

of  until  he  shall  in  like  manner  have  taken  a  similar  oath ; 
and  no  juror  shall  be  empaneled  in  any  of  the  courts  of  the 
State  in  any  cause  in  which  shall  be  in  question  this  ordi- 
nance or  any  act  of  the  legislature  passed  in  pursuance 
thereof,  unless  he  shall  first,  in  addition  to  the  usual  oath, 
have  taken  an  oath  that  he  v^^ill  well  and  truly  obey,  exe- 
cute, and  enforce  this  ordinance  and  such  act  or  acts  of  the 
legislature  as  may  be  passed  to  carry  the  same  into  opera- 
tion and  effect,  according  to  the  true  intent  and  meaning 
thereof. 

The  ordinance  concludes: 

And  we,  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  to  the  end  that  it 
may  be  fully  understood  by  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  and  the  people  of  the  co-States  that  we  are  deter- 
mined to  maintain  this  ordinance  and  declaration  at  every 
hazard,  do  further  declare  that  we  will  not  submit  to  the 
application  of  force  on  the  part  of  the  Federal  Government 
to  reduce  this  State  to  obedience,  but  that  we  will  consider 
the  passage  by  Congress  of  any  act  authorizing  the  employ- 
ment of  a  military  or  naval  force  against  the  State  of  South 
Carolina,  her  constituted  authorities  or  citizens,  or  any  act 
abolishing  or  closing  the  ports  of  this  State,  or  any  of  them, 
or  otherwise  obstructing  the  free  ingress  and  egress  of  ves- 
sels to  and  from  the  said  ports,  or  any  other  act  on  the  part 
of  the  Federal  Government  to  coerce  the  State,  shut  up  her 
ports,  destroy  or  harass  her  commerce,  or  to  enforce  the 
acts  hereby  declared  to  be  null  and  void,  otherwise  than 
through  the  civil  tribunals  of  the  country,  as  inconsistent 
with  the  longer  continuance  of  South  Carolina  in  the  Union ; 
and  that  the  people  of  this  State  will  thenceforth  hold  them- 
selves absolved  from  all  further  obligation  to  maintain  or 
preserve  their  political  connection  with  the  people  of  the 
other  States,  and  will  forthwith  proceed  to  organize  a  sep- 
arate government  and  to  do  all  other  acts  and  things  which 
sovereign  and  independent  states  may  of  right  do. 

This  solemn  denunciation  of  the  laws  and  authority  of 
the  United  States  has  been  followed  up  by  a  series  of  acts 
on  the  part  of  the  authorities  of  that  State  which  manifest  a 


;'  Proclamation  207 

determination  to  render  inevitable  a  resort  to  those  meas- 
ures of  self-defense  which  the  paramount  duty  of  the  Fed- 
eral Government  requires,  but  upon  the  adoption  of  which 
that  State  will  proceed  to  execute  the  purpose  it  has  avowed 
in  this  ordinance  of  withdrawing  from  the  Union, 

On  the  27th  of  November  the  legislature  assembled  at 
Columbia,  and  on  their  meeting  the  governor  laid  before 
them  the  ordinance  of  the  convention.  In  his  message  on 
that  occasion  he  acquaints  them  that  "  this  ordinance  has 
thus  become  a  part  of  the  fundamental  law  of  South  Caro- 
lina;" that  "  the  die  has  been  at  last  cast,  and  South  Caro- 
lina has  at  length  appealed  to  her  ulterior  sovereignty  as  a 
member  of  this  Confederacy  and  has  planted  herself  on  her 
reserved  rights.  The  rightful  exercise  of  this  power  is  not 
a  question  which  we  shall  any  longer  argue.  It  is  sufficient 
that  she  has  willed  it,  and  that  the  act  is  done;  nor  is  its 
strict  compatibility  with  our  constitutional  obligation  to  all 
laws  passed  by  the  General  Government  within  the  author- 
ized grants  of  power  to  be  drawn  in  question  when  this 
interposition  is  exerted  in  a  case  in  which  the  compact  has 
been  palpably,  deliberately,  and  dangerously  violated.  That 
it  brings  up  a  conjuncture  of  deep  and  momentous  interest 
is  neither  to  be  concealed  nor  denied.  This  crisis  presents 
a  class  of  duties  which  is  referable  to  yourselves.  You  have 
been  commanded  by  the  people  in  their  highest  sovereignty 
to  take  care  that  within  the  limits  of  this  State  their  will 
shall  be  obeyed."  "  The  measure  of  legislation,"  he  says, 
"  which  you  have  to  employ  at  this  crisis  is  the  precise 
amount  of  such  enactments  as  may  be  necessary  to  render  it 
utterly  impossible  to  collect  within  our  limits  the  duties  im- 
posed by  the  protective  tariffs  thus  nullified." 

He  proceeds : 

That  you  should  arm  every  citizen  with  a  civil  process  by 
which  he  may  claim,  if  he  pleases,  a  restitution  of  his  goods 
seized  under  the  existing  imposts  on  his  giving  security  to 
abide  the  issue  of  a  suit  at  law,  and  at  the  same  time  define 
what  shall  constitute  treason  against  the  State,  and  by  a  bill 


2o8  Andrew  Jackson 

of  pains  and  penalties  compel  obedience  and  punish  dis- 
obedience to  your  own  laws,  are  points  too  obvious  to  re- 
quire any  discussion.  In  one  word,  you  must  survey  the 
whole  ground.  You  must  look  to  and  provide  for  all  pos- 
sible contingencies.  In  your  own  limits  your  own  courts 
of  judicature  must  not  only  be  supreme,  but  you  must  look 
to  the  ultimate  issue  of  any  conflict  of  jurisdiction  and 
power  between  them  and  the  courts  of  the  United  States. 

The  governor  also  asks  for  power  to  grant  clearances,  in 
violation  of  the  laws  of  the  Union;  and  to  prepare  for  the 
alternative  which  must  happen  unless  the  United  States  shall 
passively  surrender  their  authority,  and  the  Executive,  dis- 
regarding his  oath,  refrain  from  executing  the  laws  of  the 
Union,  he  recommends  a  thorough  revision  of  the  militia 
system,  and  that  the  governor  "  be  authorized  to  accept  for 
the  defense  of  Charleston  and  its  dependencies  the  services 
of  2,000  volunteers,  either  by  companies  or  files,"  and  that 
they  be  formed  into  a  legionary  brigade  consisting  of  in- 
fantry, riflemen,  cavalry,  field  and  heavy  artillery,  and  that 
they  be  "  armed  and  equipped  from  the  public  arsenals  com- 
pletely for  the  field,  and  that  appropriations  be  made  for 
supplying  all  deficiencies  in  our  munitions  of  war."  In  ad- 
dition to  thesa  volunteer  drafts,  he  recommends  that  the 
governor  be  authorized  "  to  accept  the  services  of  10,000 
volunteers  from  the  other  divisions  of  the  State,  to  be  or- 
ganized and  arranged  in  regiments  and  brigades,  the  offi- 
cers to  be  selected  by  the  commander  in  chief,  and  that  this 
whole  force  be  called  the  State  guard." 

A  request  has  been  regularly  made  of  the  secretary  of 
state  of  South  Carolina  for  authentic  copies  of  the  acts  which 
have  been  passed  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  the  ordi- 
nance, but  up  to  the  date  of  the  latest  advices  that  request 
had  not  been  complied  with,  and  on  the  present  occasion, 
therefore,  reference  can  only  be  made  to  those  acts  as  pub- 
lished in  the  newspapers  of  the  State. 

The  acts  to  which  it  is  deemed  proper  to  invite  the  par- 
ticular attention  of  Congress  are : 


Proclamation  209 

First.  "  An  act  to  carry  into  effect,  in  part,  an  ordinance 
to  nullify  certain  acts  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
purporting  to  be  laws  laying  duties  on  the  importation  of 
foreign  commodities,"  passed  in  convention  of  this  State, 
at  Columbia,  on  the  24th  November,  1832. 

This  act  provides  that  any  goods  seized  or  detained  under 
pretense  of  securing  the  duties,  or  for  the  nonpayment  of 
duties,  or  under  any  process,  order,  or  decree,  or  other  pre- 
text contrary  to  the  intent  and  meaning  of  the  ordinance 
may  be  recovered  by  the  owner  or  consignee  by  "  an  act  of 
replevin;"  that  in  case  of  refusing  to  deliver  them,  or  re- 
moving them  so  that  the  replevin  can  not  be  executed,  the 
sheriff  may  seize  the  personal  estate  of  the  offender  to 
double  the  amount  of  the  goods,  and  if  any  attempt  shall  be 
made  to  retake  or  seize  them  it  is  the  duty  of  the  sheriff  to 
recapture  them;  and  that  any  person  who  shall  disobey  the 
process  or  remove  the  goods,  or  anyone  who  shall  attempt 
to  retake  or  seize  the  goods  under  pretense  of  securing  the 
duties,  or  for  nonpayment  of  duties,  or  under  any  process 
or  decree  contrary  to  the  intent  of  the  ordinance,  shall  be 
fined  and  imprisoned,  besides  being  liable  for  any  other 
offense  involved  in  the  act. 

It  also  provides  that  any  person  arrested  or  imprisoned 
on  any  judgment  or  decree  obtained  in  any  Federal  court 
for  duties  shall  be  entitled  to  the  benefit  secured  by  the 
habeas  corpus  act  of  the  State  in  cases  of  unlawful  arrest, 
and  may  maintain  an  action  for  damages,  and  that  if  any 
estate  shall  be  sold  under  such  judgment  or  decree  the  sale 
shall  be  held  illegal.  It  also  provides  that  any  jailer  who 
receives  a  person  committed  on  any  process  or  other  judi- 
cial proceedings  to  enforce  the  payment  of  duties,  and  any- 
one who  hires  his  house  as  a  jail  to  receive  such  persons, 
shall  be  fined  and  imprisoned.  And,  finally,  it  provides  that 
persons  paying  duties  may  recover  them  back  with  interest. 

The  next  is  called  "  An  act  to  provide  for  the  security  and 
protection  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina." 

This  act  provides  that  if  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  or  any  officer  thereof  shall,  by  the  employment  of 


2IO  Andrew  Jackson 

naval  or  military  force,  attempt  to  coerce  the  State  of  South 
Carolina  into  submission  to  the  acts  of  Congress  declared 
by  the  ordinance  null  and  void,  or  to  resist  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  ordinance  or  of  the  laws  passed  in  pursuance 
thereof,  or  in  case  of  any  armed  or  forcible  resistance 
thereto,  the  governor  is  authorized  to  resist  the  same  and 
to  order  into  service  the  whole  or  so  much  of  the  military 
force  of  the  State  as  he  may  deem  necessary;  and  that  in 
case  of  any  overt  act  of  coercion  or  intention  to  commit  the 
same,  manifested  by  an  unusual  assemblage  of  naval  or  mil- 
itary forces  in  or  near  the  State,  or  the  occurrence  of  any 
circumstances  indicating  that  armed  force  is  about  to  be 
employed  against  the  State  or  in  resistance  to  its  laws,  the 
governor  is  authorized  to  accept  the  services  of  such  volun- 
teers and  call  into  service  such  portions  of  the  militia  as  may 
be  required  to  meet  the  emergency. 

The  act  also  provides  for  accepting  the  service  of  the 
volunteers  and  organizing  the  militia,  embracing  all  free 
white  males  between  the  ages  of  i6  and  60,  and  for  the 
purchase  of  arms,  ordnance,  and  ammunition.  It  also  de- 
clares that  the  power  conferred  on  the  governor  shall  be  ap- 
plicable to  all  cases  of  insurrection  or  invasion,  or  imminent 
danger  thereof,  and  to  cases  where  the  laws  of  the  State 
shall  be  opposed  and  the  execution  thereof  forcibly  resisted 
by  combinations  too  powerful  to  be  suppressed  by  the  power 
vested  in  the  sheriffs  and  other  civil  officers,  and  declares 
it  to  be  the  duty  of  the  governor  in  every  such  case  to  call 
forth  such  portions  of  the  militia  and  volunteers  as  may  be 
necessary  promptly  to  suppress  such  combinations  and  cause 
the  laws  of  the  State  to  be  executed. 

No.  9  is  "  An  act  concerning  the  oath  required  by  the 
ordinance  passed  in  convention  at  Columbia  on  the  24th  of 
November,  1832." 

This  act  prescribes  the  form  of  the  oath,  which  is,  to  obey 
and  execute  the  ordinance  and  all  acts  passed  by  the  legis- 
lature in  pursuance  thereof,  and  directs  the  time  and  manner 
of  taking  it  by  the  officers  of  the  State — civil,  judiciary,  and 
military. 


Proclamation  2 1 1 

It  is  believed  that  other  acts  have  been  passed  embracing 
provisions  for  enforcing  the  ordinance,  but  I  have  not  yet 
been  able  to  procure  them. 

I  transmit,  however,  a  copy  of  Governor  Hamilton's 
message  to  the  legislature  of  South  Carolina;  of  Governor 
Hayne's  inaugural  address  to  the  same  body,  as  also  of  his 
proclamation,  and  a  general  order  of  the  governor  and  com- 
mander in  chief,  dated  the  20th  of  December,  giving  public 
notice  that  the  services  of  volunteers  will  be  accepted  under 
the  act  already  referred  to. 

If  these  measures  can  not  be  defeated  and  overcome  by 
the  power  conferred  by  the  Constitution  on  the  Federal 
Government,  the  Constitution  must  be  considered  as  incom- 
petent to  its  own  defense,  the  supremacy  of  the  laws  is  at 
an  end,  and  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  citizens  can 
no  longer  receive  protection  from  the  Government  of  the 
Union.  They  not  only  abrogate  the  acts  of  Congress  com- 
monly called  the  tariff  acts  of  1828  and  1832,  but  they 
prostrate  and  sweep  away  at  once  and  without  exception 
every  act  and  every  part  of  every  act  imposing  any  amount 
whatever  of  duty  on  any  foreign  merchandise,  and  virtually 
every  existing  act  which  has  ever  been  passed  authorizing 
the  collection  of  the  revenue,  including  the  act  of  18 16,  and 
also  the  collection  law  of  1799,  the  constitutionality  of  which 
has  never  been  questioned.  It  is  not  only  those  duties  which 
are  charged  to  have  been  imposed  for  the  protection  of  man- 
ufactures that  are  thereby  repealed,  but  all  others,  though 
laid  for  the  purpose  of  revenue  merely,  and  upon  articles  in 
no  degree  suspected  of  being  objects  of  protection.  The 
whole  revenue  system  of  the  United  States  in  South  Caro- 
lina is  obstructed  and  overthrown,  and  the  Government  is 
absolutely  prohibited  from  collecting  any  part  of  the  public 
revenue  within  the  limits  of  that  State.  Henceforth,  not 
only  the  citizens  of  South  Carolina  and  of  the  United  States, 
but  the  subjects  of  foreign  states  may  import  any  description 
or  quantity  of  merchandise  into  the  ports  of  South  Carolina 
without  the  payment  of  any  duty  whatsoever.  That  State 
is  thus  relieved  from  the  payment  of  any  part  of  the  public 


212  Andrew  Jackson 

burthens,  and  duties  and  imposts  are  not  only  rendered  not 
uniform  throughout  the  United  States,  but  a  direct  and 
ruinous  preference  is  given  to  the  ports  of  that  State  over 
those  of  all  the  other  States  of  the  Union,  in  manifest  vio- 
lation of  the  positive  provisions  of  the  Constitution. 

In  point  of  duration,  also,  those  aggressions  upon  the 
authority  of  Congress  which  by  the  ordinance  are  made 
part  of  the  fundamental  lav^^  of  South  Carolina  are  abso- 
lute, indefinite,  and  without  limitation.  They  neither  pre- 
scribe the  period  when  they  shall  cease  nor  indicate  any 
conditions  upon  which  those  who  have  thus  undertaken  to 
arrest  the  operation  of  the  laws  are  to  retrace  their  steps  and 
rescind  their  measures.  They  offer  to  the  United  States  no 
alternative  but  unconditional  submission.  If  the  scope  of 
the  ordinance  is  to  be  received  as  the  scale  of  concession, 
their  demands  can  be  satisfied  only  by  a  repeal  of  the  whole 
system  of  revenue  laws  and  by  abstaining  from  the  collec- 
tion of  any  duties  and  imposts  whatsoever. 

It  is  true  that  in  the  address  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States  by  the  convention  of  South  Carolina,  after  announc- 
ing "  the  fixed  and  final  determination  of  the  State  in  rela- 
tion to  the  protecting  system,"  they  say  "  that  it  remains  for 
us  to  submit  a  plan  of  taxation  in  which  we  would  be  willing 
to  acquiesce  in  a  liberal  spirit  of  concession,  provided  we  are 
met  in  due  time  and  in  a  becoming  spirit  by  the  States  in- 
terested in  manufactures."  In  the  opinion  of  the  conven- 
tion, an  equitable  plan  would  be  that  "  the  whole  list  of  pro- 
tected articles  should  be  imported  free  of  all  duty,  and  that 
the  revenue  derived  from  import  duties  should  be  raised  ex- 
clusively from  the  unprotected  articles,  or  that  whenever  a 
duty  is  imposed  upon  protected  articles  imported  an  excise 
duty  of  the  same  rate  shall  be  imposed  upon  all  similar 
articles  manufactured  in  the  United  States." 

The  address  proceeds  to  state,  however,  that  "  they  are 
willing  to  make  a  large  offering  to  preserve  the  Union,  and, 
with  a  distinct  declaration  that  it  is  a  concession  on  our  part, 
we  will  consent  that  the  same  rate  of  duty  may  be  imposed 
upon  the  protected  articles  that  shall  be  imposed  upon  the 


Proclamation  2 1 3 

unprotected,  provided  that  no  more  revenue  be  raised  than 
is  necessary  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  Government  for 
constitutional  purposes,  and  provided  also  that  a  duty  sub- 
stantially uniform  be  imposed  upon  all  foreign  imports." 

It  is  also  true  that  in  his  message  to  the  legislature,  when 
urging  the  necessity  of  providing  *'  means  of  securing  their 
safety  by  ample  resources  for  repelling  force  by  force,"  the 
governor  of  South  Carolina  observes  that  he  "  can  not  but 
think  that  on  a  calm  and  dispassionate  review  by  Congress 
and  the  functionaries  of  the  General  Government  of  the  true 
merits  of  this  controversy  the  arbitration  by  a  call  of  a  con- 
vention of  all  the  States,  which  we  sincerely  and  anxiously 
seek  and  desire,  will  be  accorded  to  us." 

From  the  diversity  of  terms  indicated  in  these  two  im- 
portant documents,  taken  in  connection  with  the  progress 
of  recent  events  in  that  quarter,  there  is  too  much  reason 
to  apprehend,  without  in  any  manner  doubting  the  inten- 
tions of  those  public  functionaries,  that  neither  the  terms 
proposed  in  the  address  of  the  convention  nor  those  alluded 
to  in  the  message  of  the  governor  would  appease  the  excite- 
ment which  has  led  to  the  present  excesses.  It  is  obvious, 
however,  that  should  the  latter  be  insisted  on  they  present 
an  alternative  which  the  General  Government  of  itself  can 
by  no  possibility  grant,  since  by  an  express  provision  of  the 
Constitution  Congress  can  call  a  convention  for  the  purpose 
of  proposing  amendments  only  **  on  the  application  of  the 
legislatures  of  two-thirds  of  the  States."  And  it  is  not  per- 
ceived that  the  terms  presented  in  the  address  are  more 
practicable  than  those  referred  to  in  the  message. 

It  will  not  escape  attention  that  the  conditions  on  which 
it  is  said  in  the  address  of  the  convention  they  "  would  be 
willing  to  acquiesce  "  form  no  part  of  the  ordinance.  While 
this  ordinance  bears  all  the  solemnity  of  a  fundamental  law, 
is  to  be  authoritative  upon  all  within  the  limits  of  South 
Carolina,  and  is  absolute  and  unconditional  in  its  terms,  the 
address  conveys  only  the  sentiments  of  the  convention,  in 
no  binding  or  practical  form ;  one  is  the  act  of  the  State,  the 
other  only  the  expression  of  the  opinions  of  the  members 


/ 


214  Andrew  Jackson 

of  the  convention.  To  limit  the  effect  of  that  solemn  act 
by  any  terms  or  conditions  whatever,  they  should  have  been 
embodied  in  it,  and  made  of  import  no  less  authoritative 
than  the  act  itself.  By  the  positive  enactments  of  the  ordi- 
nance the  execution  of  the  laws  of  the  Union  is  absolutely 
prohibited,  and  the  address  offers  no  other  prospect  of  their 
being  again  restored,  even  in  the  modified  form  proposed, 
than  what  depends  upon  the  improbable  contingency  that 
amid  changing  events  and  increasing  excitement  the  senti- 
ments of  the  present  members  of  the  convention  and  of  their 
successors  will  remain  the  same. 

It  is  to  be  regretted,  however,  that  these  conditions,  even 
if  they  had  been  offered  in  the  same  binding  form,  are  so 
undefined,  depend  upon  so  many  contingencies,  and  are  so 
directly  opposed  to  the  known  opinions  and  interests  of  the 
great  body  of  the  American  people  as  to  be  almost  hopeless 
of  attainment.  The  majority  of  the  States  and  of  the  people 
will  certainly  not  consent  that  the  protecting  duties  shall  be 
wholly  abrogated,  never  to  be  reenacted  at  any  future  time 
or  in  any  possible  contingency.  As  little  practicable  is  it  to 
provide  that  "  the  same  rate  of  duty  shall  be  imposed  upon 
the  protected  articles  that  shall  be  imposed  upon  the  unpro- 
tected," which,  moreover,  would  be  severely  oppressive  to 
the  poor,  and  in  time  of  war  would  add  greatly  to  its  rigors. 
And  though  there  can  be  no  objection  to  the  principle,  prop- 
erly understood,  that  no  more  revenue  shall  be  raised  than 
is  necessary  for  the  constitutional  purposes  of  the  Govern- 
ment, which  principle  has  been  already  recommended  by  the 
Executive  as  the  true  basis  of  taxation,  yet  it  is  very  certain 
that  South  Carolina  alone  can  not  be  permitted  to  decide 
what  these  constitutional  purposes  are. 

The  period  which  constitutes  the  due  time  in  which  the 
terms  proposed  in  the  address  are  to  be  accepted  would  seem 
to  present  scarcely  less  difficulty  than  the  terms  themselves. 
Though  the  revenue  laws  are  already  declared  to  be  void  in 
South  Carolina,  as  well  as  the  bonds  taken  under  them  and 
the  judicial  proceedings  for  carrying  them  into  effect,  yet 
as  the  full  action  and  operation  of  the  ordinance  are  to  be 


Proclamation  2 1 5 

suspended  until  the  ist  of  February  the  interval  may  be 
assumed  as  the  time  within  which  it  is  expected  that  the 
most  complicated  portion  of  the  national  legislation,  a  sys- 
tem of  long  standing  and  affecting  great  interests  in  the 
community,  is  to  be  rescinded  and  abolished.  If  this  be  re- 
quired, it  is  clear  that  a  compliance  is  impossible. 

In  the  uncertainty,  then,  that  exists  as  to  the  duration  of 
the  ordinance  and  of  the  enactments  for  enforcing  it,  it  be- 
comes imperiously  the  duty  of  the  Executive  of  the  United 
States,  acting  with  a  proper  regard  to  all  the  great  inter- 
ests committed  to  his  care,  to  treat  those  acts  as  absolute 
and  unlimited.  They  are  so  as  far  as  his  agency  is  con- 
cerned. He  can  not  either  embrace  or  lead  to  the  perform- 
ance of  the  conditions.  He  has  already  discharged  the  only 
part  in  his  power  by  the  recommendation  in  his  annual  mes- 
sage. The  rest  is  with  Congress  and  the  people,  and  until 
they  have  acted  his  duty  will  require  him  to  look  to  the  ex- 
isting state  of  things  and  act  under  them  according  to  his 
high  obligations. 

By  these  various  proceedings,  therefore,  the  State  of 
South  Carolina  has  forced  the  General  Government,  un- 
avoidably, to  decide  the  new  and  dangerous  alternative  of 
permitting  a  State  to  obstruct  the  execution  of  the  laws 
within  its  limits  or  seeing  it  attempt  to  execute  a  threat  of 
withdrawing  from  the  Union.  That  iportion  of  the  people 
at  present  exercising  the  authority  of  the  State  solemnly 
assert  their  right  to  do  either  and  as  solemnly  announce 
their  determination  to  do  one  or  the  other. 

In  my  opinion,  both  purposes  are  to  be  regarded  as  revo- 
lutionary in  their  character  and  tendency,  and  subversive  of 
the  supremacy  of  the  laws  and  of  the  integrity  of  the  Union. 
The  result  of  each  is  the  same,  since  a  State  in  which,  by  an 
usurpation  of  power,  the  constitutional  authority  of  the  Fed- 
eral Government  is  openly  defied  and  set  aside  wants  only 
the  form  to  be  independent  of  the  Union. 

The  right  of  the  people  of  a  single  State  to  absolve  them- 
selves at  will  and  without  the  consent  of  the  other  States 
from  their  most  solemn  obligations,  and  hazard  the  liberties 


2i6  Andrew  Jackson 

and  happiness  of  the  milHons  composing  this  Union,  can  not 
be  acknowledged.  Such  authority  is  beheved  to  be  utterly 
repugnant  both  to  the  principles  upon  which  the  General 
Government  is  constituted  and  to  the  objects  which  it  is 
expressly  formed  to  attain. 

Against  all  acts  which  may  be  alleged  to  transcend  the 
constitutional  power  of  the  Government,  or  which  may  be 
inconvenient  or  oppressive  in  their  operation,  the  Consti- 
tution itself  has  prescribed  the  modes  of  redress.  It  is  the 
acknowledged  attribute  of  free  institutions  that  under  them 
the  empire  of  reason  and  law  is  substituted  for  the  power  of 
the  sword.  To  no  other  source  can  appeals  for  supposed 
wrongs  be  made  consistently  with  the  obligations  of  South 
Carolina ;  to  no  other  can  such  appeals  be  made  with  safety 
at  any  time;  and  to  their  decisions,  w'hen  constitutionally 
pronounced,  it  becomes  the  duty  no  less  of  the  public  au- 
thorities than  of  the  people  in  every  case  to  yield  a  patriotic 
submission. 

That  a  State  or  any  other  great  portion  of  the  people, 
suffering  under  long  and  intolerable  oppression  and  having 
tried  all  constitutional  remedies  without  the  hope  of  redress, 
may  have  a  natural  right,  when  their  happiness  can  be  no 
otherwise  secured,  and  when  they  can  do  so  without  greater 
injury  to  others,  to  absolve  themselves  from  their  obliga- 
tions to  the  Government  and  appeal  to  the  last  resort,  needs 
not  on  the  present  occasion  be  denied. 

The  existence  of  this  right,  however,  must  depend  upon 
the  causes  which  may  justify  its  exercise.  It  is  the  tiltima 
ratio,  which  presupposes  that  the  proper  appeals  to  all  other 
means  of  redress  have  been  made  in  good  faith,  and  which 
can  never  be  rightfully  resorted  to  unless  it  be  unavoidable. 
It  is  not  the  right  of  the  State,  but  of  the  individual,  and  of 
all  the  individuals  in  the  State.  It  is  the  right  of  mankind 
generally  to  secure  by  all  means  in  their  power  the  blessings 
of  liberty  and  happiness ;  but  when  for  these  purposes  any 
body  of  men  have  voluntarily  associated  themselves  under  a 
particular  form  of  government,  no  portion  of  them  can 
dissolve  the  association  without  acknowledging  the  correla- 


Proclamation  2 1 7 

tive  right  in  the  remainder  to  decide  whether  that  dissolu- 
tion can  be  permitted  consistently  with  the  general  happi- 
ness. In  this  view  it  is  a  right  dependent  upon  the  power  to 
enforce  it.  Such  a  right,  though  it  may  be  admitted  to  pre- 
exist and  can  not  be  wholly  surrendered,  is  necessarily  sub- 
jected to  limitations  in  all  free  governments,  and  in  com- 
pacts of  all  kinds  freely  and  voluntarily  entered  into,  and 
in  which  the  interest  and  welfare  of  the  individual  become 
identified  with  those  of  the  community  of  which  he  is  a 
member.  In  compacts  between  individuals,  however  deeply 
they  may  affect  their  relations,  these  principles  are  acknowl- 
edged to  create  a  sacred  obligation ;  and  in  compacts  of  civil 
government,  involving  the  liberties  and  happiness  of  mill- 
ions of  mankind,  the  obligation  can  not  be  less. 

Without  adverting  to  the  particular  theories  to  which  the 
federal  compact  has  given  rise,  both  as  to  its  formation  and 
the  parties  to  it,  and  without  inquiring  whether  it  be  merely 
federal  or  social  or  national,  it  is  sufficient  that  it  must  be 
admitted  to  be  a  compact  and  to  possess  the  obligations  in- 
cident to  a  compact ;  to  be  "  a  compact  by  which  power  is 
created  on  the  one  hand  and  obedience  exacted  on  the  other ; 
a  compact  freely,  voluntarily,  and  solemnly  entered  into  by 
the  several  States  and  ratified  by  the  people  thereof,  re- 
spectively; a  compact  by  which  the  several  States  and  the 
people  thereof,  respectively,  have  bound  themselves  to  each 
other  and  to  the  Federal  Government,  and  by  which  the 
Federal  Government  is  bound  to  the  several  States  and  to 
every  citizen  of  the  United  States."  To  this  compact,  in 
whatever  mode  it  may  have  been  done,  the  people  of  South 
Carolina  have  freely  and  voluntarily  given  their  assent,  and 
to  the  whole  and  every  part  of  it  they  are,  upon  every  prin- 
ciple of  good  faith,  inviolably  bound.  Under  this  obligation 
they  are  bound  and  should  be  required  to  contribute  their 
portion  of  the  public  expense,  and  to  submit  to  all  laws  made 
by  the  common  consent,  in  pursuance  of  the  Constitution, 
for  the  common  defense  and  general  welfare,  until  they  can 
be  changed  in  the  mode  which  the  compact  has  provided  for 
the  attainment  of  those  great  ends  of  the  Government  and 


21 8  Andrew  Jackson 

of  the  Union.  Nothing  less  than  causes  which  would  justify 
revolutionary  remedy  can  absolve  the  people  from  this  obli- 
gation, and  for  nothing  less  can  the  Government  permit  it 
to  be  done  without  violating  its  own  obligations,  by  which, 
under  the  compact,  it  is  bound  to  the  other  States  and  to 
every  citizen  of  the  United  States. 

These  deductions  plainly  flow  from  the  nature  of  the  fed- 
eral compact,  which  is  one  of  limitations,  not  only  upon  the 
powers  originally  possessed  by  the  parties  thereto,  but  also 
upon  those  conferred  on  the  Government  and  every  depart- 
ment thereof.  It  will  be  freely  conceded  that  by  the  prin- 
ciples of  our  system  all  power  is  vested  in  the  people,  but  to 
be  exercised  in  the  mode  and  subject  to  the  checks  which 
the  people  themselves  have  prescribed.  These  checks  are 
undoubtedly  only  diifferent  modifications  of  the  same  great 
popular  principle  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the  whole, 
but  are  not  on  that  account  to  be  less  regarded  or  less 
obligatory. 

Upon  the  power  of  Congress,  the  veto  of  the  Executive 
and  the  authority  of  the  judiciary,  which  is  to  extend  to  all 
cases  in  law  and  equity  arising  under  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  the  United  States  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  are 
the  obvious  checks,  and  the  sound  action  of  public  opinion, 
with  the  ultimate  power  of  amendment,  are  the  salutary  and 
only  limitation  upon  the  powers  of  the  whole. 

However  it  may  be  alleged  that  a  violation  of  the  com- 
pact by  the  measures  of  the  Government  can  affect  the  obli- 
gations of  the  parties,  it  can  not  even  be  pretended  that  such 
violation  can  be  predicated  of  those  measures  until  all  the 
constitutional  remedies  shall  have  been  fully  tried.  If  the 
Federal  Government  exercise  powers  not  warranted  by  the 
Constitution,  and  immediately  affecting  individuals,  it  will 
scarcely  be  denied  that  the  proper  remedy  is  a  recourse  to 
the  judiciary.  Such  undoubtedly  is  the  remedy  for  those 
who  deem  the  acts  of  Congress  laying  duties  and  imposts, 
and  providing  for  their  collection,  to  be  unconstitutional. 
The  whole  operation  of  such  laws  is  upon  the  individuals 
importing  the  merchandise.     A  State  is  absolutely  prohib- 


Proclamation  2 1 9 

ited  from  laying  imposts  or  duties  on  imports  or  exports 
without  the  consent  of  Congress,  and  can  not  become  a 
party  under  these  laws  without  importing  in  her  own  name 
or  wrongfully  interposing  her  authority  against  them.  By 
thus  interposing,  however,  she  can  not  rightfully  obstruct 
the  operation  of  the  laws  upon  individuals.  For  their  dis- 
obedience to  or  violation  of  the  laws  the  ordinary  remedies 
through  the  judicial  tribunals  would  remain.  And  in  a  case 
where  an  individual  should  be  prosecuted  for  any  offense 
against  the  laws,  he  could  not  set  up  in  justification  of  his 
act  a  law  of  the  State,  which,  being  unconstitutional,  would 
therefore  be  regarded  as  null  and  void.  The  law  of  a  State 
can  not  authorize  the  commission  of  a  crime  against  the 
United  States  or  any  other  act  which,  according  to  the  su- 
preme law  of  the  Union,  would  be  otherwise  unlawful ;  and 
it  is  equally  clear  that  if  there  be  any  case  in  which  a  State, 
as  such,  is  affected  by  the  law  beyond  the  scope  of  judicial 
power,  the  remedy  consists  in  appeals  to  the  people,  either 
to  effect  a  change  in  the  representation  or  to  procure  relief 
by  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution.  But  the  measures  of 
the  Government  are  to  be  recognized  as  valid,  and  conse- 
quently supreme,  until  these  remedies  shall  have  been  ef- 
fectually tried,  and  any  attempt  to  subvert  those  measures 
or  to  render  the  laws  subordinate  to  State  authority,  and 
afterwards  to  resort  to  constitutional  redress,  is  worse  than 
evasive.  It  would  not  be  a  proper  resistance  to  "  a  govern- 
ment of  unlimited  powers,"  as  has  been  sometimes  pre- 
tended, but  unlawful  opposition  to  the  very  limitations  on 
which  the  harmonious  action  of  the  Government  and  all  its 
parts  absolutely  depends.  South  Carolina  has  appealed  to 
none  of  these  remedies,  but  in  effect  has  defied  them  all. 
While  threatening  to  separate  from  the  Union  if  any  at- 
tempt be  made  to  enforce  the  revenue  laws  otherwise  than 
through  the  civil  tribunals  of  the  country,  she  has  not  only 
not  appealed  in  her  own  name  to  those  tribunals  which  the 
Constitution  has  provided  for  all  cases  in  law  or  equity  aris- 
ing under  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States, 
but  has  endeavored  to  frustrate  their  proper  action  on  her 


220  Andrew  Jackson 

citizens  by  drawing  the  cognizance  of  cases  under  the  rev- 
enue laws  to  her  own  tribunals,  specially  prepared  and  fitted 
for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  the  acts  passed  by  the  State  to 
obstruct  those  laws,  and  both  the  judges  and  jurors  of  which 
will  be  bound  by  the  import  of  oaths  previously  taken  to 
treat  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  in  this 
respect  as  a  nullity.  Nor  has  the  State  made  the  proper 
appeal  to  public  opinion  and  to  the  remedy  of  amendment ; 
for  without  waiting  to  learn  whether  the  other  States  will 
consent  to  a  convention,  or  if  they  do  will  construe  or  amend 
the  Constitution  to  suit  her  views,  she  has  of  her  own  au- 
thority altered  the  import  of  that  instrument  and  given  im- 
mediate effect  to  the  change.  In  fine,  she  has  set  her  own 
will  and  authority  above  the  laws,  has  made  herself  arbiter 
in  her  own  cause,  and  has  passed  at  once  over  all  intermedi- 
ate steps  to  measures  of  avowed  resistance,  which,  unless 
they  be  submitted  to,  can  be  enforced  only  by  the  sword. 

In  deciding  upon  the  course  which  a  high  sense  of  duty 
to  all  the  people  of  the  United  States  imposes  upon  the  au- 
thorities of  the  Union  in  this  emergency,  it  can  not  be  over- 
looked that  there  is  no  sufficient  cause  for  the  acts  of  South 
Carolina,  or  for  her  thus  placing  in  jeopardy  the  happiness 
of  so  many  millions  of  people.  Misrule  and  oppression,  to 
warrant  the  disruption  of  the  free  institutions  of  the  Union 
of  these  States,  should  be  great  and  lasting,  defying  all  other 
remedy.  For  causes  of  minor  character  the  Government 
could  not  submit  to  such  a  catastrophe  without  a  violation 
of  its  most  sacred  obligations  to  the  other  States  of  the 
Union  who  have  submitted  their  destiny  to  its  hands. 

There  is  in  the  present  instance  no  such  cause,  either  in 
the  degree  of  misrule  or  oppression  complained  of  or  in  the 
hopelessness  of  redress  by  constitutional  means.  The  long 
sanction  they  have  received  from  the  proper  authorities  and 
from  the  people,  not  less  than  the  unexampled  growth  and 
increasing  prosperity  of  so  many  millions  of  freemen,  attest 
that  no  such  oppression  as  would  justify,  or  even  palliate, 
such  a  resort  can  be  justly  imputed  either  to  the  present 
policy  or  past  measures  of  the  Federal  Government. 


Proclamation  2  2 1 

The  same  mode  of  collecting  duties,  and  for  the  same 
general  objects,  which  began  with  the  foundation  of  the 
Government,  and  which  has  conducted  the  country  through 
its  subsequent  steps  to  its  present  enviable  condition  of  hap- 
piness and  renown,  has  not  been  changed.  Taxation  and 
representation,  the  great  principle  of  the  Am.erican  Revolu- 
tion, have  continually  gone  hand  in  hand,  and  at  all  times 
and  in  every  instance  no  tax  of  any  kind  has  been  imposed 
without  their  participation,  and,  in  some  instances  which 
have  been  complained  of,  with  the  express  assent  of  a  part 
of  the  representatives  of  South  Carolina  in  the  councils  of 
the  Government.  Up  to  the  present  period  no  revenue  has 
been  raised  beyond  the  necessary  wants  of  the  country  and 
the  authorized  expenditures  of  the  Government ;  and  as  soon 
as  the  burthen  of  the  public  debt  is  removed  those  charged 
with  the  administration  have  promptly  recommended  a  cor- 
responding reduction  of  revenue. 

That  this  system  thus  pursued  has  resulted  in  no  such 
oppression  upon  South  Carolina  needs  no  other  proof  than 
the  solemn  and  official  declaration  of  the  late  chief  magis- 
trate of  that  State  in  his  address  to  the  legislature.  In  that 
he  says  that — 

The  occurrences  of  the  past  year,  in  connection  with  our 
domestic  concerns,  are  to  be  reviewed  with  a  sentiment  of 
fervent  gratitude  to  the  Great  Disposer  of  Human  Events ; 
that  tributes  of  grateful  acknowledgment  are  due  for  the 
various  and  multiplied  blessings  He  has  been  pleased  to 
bestow  on  our  people ;  that  abundant  harvests  in  every  quar- 
ter of  the  State  have  crowned  the  exertions  of  agricultural 
labor;  that  health  almost  beyond  former  precedent  has 
blessed  our  homes,  and  that  there  is  not  less  reason  for 
thankfulness  in  surveying  our  social  condition. 

It  would  indeed  be  difficult  to  imagine  oppression  where 
in  the  social  condition  of  a  people  there  was  equal  cause  of 
thankfulness  as  for  abundant  harvests  and  varied  and  mul- 
tiplied blessings  with  which  a  kind  Providence  had  favored 
them. 


2  22  Andrew  Jackson 

Independently  of  these  considerations,  it  will  not  escape 
observation  that  South  Carolina  still  claims  to  be  a  com- 
ponent part  of  the  Union,  to  participate  in  the  national 
councils  and  to  share  in  the  public  benefits  without  con- 
tributing to  the  public  burdens,  thus  asserting  the  dangerous 
anomaly  of  continuing  in  an  association  without  acknowl- 
edging any  other  obligation  to  its  laws  than  what  depends 
upon  her  own  will. 

In  this  posture  of  affairs  the  duty  of  the  Government 
seems  to  be  plain.  It  inculcates  a  recognition  of  that  State 
as  a  member  of  the  Union  and  subject  to  its  authority,  a 
vindication  of  the  just  power  of  the  Constitution,  the 
preservation  of  the  integrity  of  the  Union,  and  the  execu- 
tion of  the  laws  by  all  constitutional  means. 

The  Constitution,  which  his  oath  of  office  obliges  him  to 
support,  declares  that  the  Executive,  "  shall  take  care  that 
the  laws  be  faithfully  executed,"  and  in  providing  that  he 
shall  from  time  to  time  give  to  Congress  information  of  the 
state  of  the  Union,  and  recommend  to  their  consideration 
such  measures  as  he  shall  judge  necessary  and  expedient, 
imposes  the  additional  obligation  of  recommending  to  Con- 
gress such  more  efficient  provision  for  executing  the  laws  as 
may  from  time  to  time  be  found  requisite. 

The  same  instrument  confers  on  Congress  the  power  not 
merely  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  excises, 
to  pay  the  debts  and  provide  for  the  common  defense  and 
general  welfare,  but  "  to  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  neces- 
sary and  proper  for  carrying  into  effect  the  foregoing 
powers  and  all  other  powers  vested  by  the  Constitution  in 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  or  in  any  department 
or  officer  thereof,"  and  also  to  provide  for  calling  forth  the 
militia  for  executing  the  laws  of  the  Union.  In  all  cases 
similar  to  the  present  the  duties  of  the  Government  become 
the  measure  of  its  powers,  and  whenever  it  fails  to  exercise 
a  power  necessary  and  proper  to  the  discharge  of  the  duty 
prescribed  by  the  Constitution  It  violates  the  public  trusts 
not  less  than  it  would  in  transcending  its  proper  limits. 
To  refrain,  therefore,   from  the  high   and  solemn  duties 


Proclamation  223 

thus  enjoined,  however  painful  the  performance  may 
be,  and  thereby  tacitly  permit  the  rightful  authority  of 
the  Government  to  be  contemned  and  its  laws  obstructed 
by  a  single  State,  would  neither  comport  with  its  own 
safety  nor  the  rights  of  the  great  body  of  the  American 
people. 

It  being  thus  shown  to  be  the  duty  of  the  Executive  to 
execute  the  laws  by  all  constitutional  means,  it  remains  to 
consider  the  extent  of  those  already  at  his  disposal  and  what 
it  may  be  proper  further  to  provide. 

In  the  instructions  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to 
the  collectors  in  South  Carolina  the  provisions  and  regula- 
tions made  by  the  act  of  1799,  and  also  the  fines,  penalties, 
and  forfeitures  for  their  enforcement,  are  particularly  de- 
tailed and  explained.  It  may  be  well  apprehended,  however, 
that  these  provisions  may  prove  inadequate  to  meet  such  an 
open,  powerful,  organized  opposition  as  is  to  be  commenced 
after  the  ist  of  February  next. 

Subsequently  to  the  date  of  these  instructions  and  to  the 
passage  of  the  ordinance,  information  has  been  received 
from  sources  entitled  to  be  relied  on  that  owing  to  the  popu- 
lar excitement  in  the  State  and  the  effect  of  the  ordinance 
declaring  the  execution  of  the  revenue  laws  unlawful  a  suf- 
ficient number  of  persons  in  whom  confidence  might  be 
placed  could  not  be  induced  to  accept  the  office  of  inspector 
to  oppose  with  any  probability  of  success  the  force  which 
will  no  doubt  be  used  when  an  attempt  is  made  to  remove 
vessels  and  their  cargoes  from  the  custody  of  the  officers  of 
the  customs,  and,  indeed,  that  it  would  be  impracticable  for 
the  collector,  with  the  aid  of  any  number  of  inspectors  whom 
he  may  be  authorized  to  employ,  to  preserve  the  custody 
against  such  an  attempt. 

The  removal  of  the  custom-house  from  Charleston  to 
Castle  Pinckney  was  deemed  a  measure  of  necessary  pre- 
caution, and  though  the  authority  to  give  that  direction  is 
not  questioned,  it  is  nevertheless  apparent  that  a  similar  pre- 
caution can  not  be  observed  in  regard  to  the  ports  of  George- 
town and  Beaufort,  each  of  which  under  the  present  laws 


224  Andrew   Jackson 

remains  a  port  of  entry  and  exposed  to  the  obstructions 
meditated  in  that  quarter. 

In  considering  the  best  means  of  avoiding  or  of  prevent- 
ing the  apprehended  obstruction  to  the  collection  of  the 
revenue,  and  the  consequences  which  may  ensue,  it  would 
appear  to  be  proper  and  necessary  to  enable  the  officers  of 
the  customs  to  preserve  the  custody  of  vessels  and  their 
cargoes,  which  by  the  existing  laws  they  are  required  to 
take,  until  the  duties  to  which  they  are  liable  shall  be  paid 
or  secured.  The  mode  by  which  it  is  contemplated  to  de- 
prive them  of  that  custody  is  the  process  of  replevin  and 
that  of  capias  in  zvitJicrnam,  in  the  nature  of  a  distress  from 
the  State  tribunals  organized  by  the  ordinance. 

Against  the  proceeding  in  the  nature  of  a  distress  it  is 
not  perceived  that  the  collector  can  interpose  any  resistance 
whatever,  and  against  the  process  of  replevin  authorized  by 
the  law  of  the  State  he,  having  no  common-law  power,  can 
only  oppose  such  inspectors  as  he  is  by  statute  authorized 
and  may  find  it  practicable  to  employ,  and  these,  from  the 
information  already  adverted  to,  are  shown  to  be  wholly 
inadequate. 

The  respect  which  that  process  deserves  must  therefore 
be  considered. 

If  the  authorities  of  South  Carolina  had  not  obstructed 
the  legitimate  action  of  the  courts  of  the  United  States,  or 
if  they  had  permitted  the  State  tribunals  to  administer  the 
law  according  to  their  oath  under  the  Constitution  and  the 
regulations  of  the  laws  of  the  Union,  the  General  Govern- 
ment might  have  been  content  to  look  to  them  for  maintain- 
ing the  custody  and  to  encounter  the  other  inconveniences 
arising  out  of  the  recent  proceedings.  Even  in  that  case, 
however,  the  process  of  replevin  from  the  courts  of  the  State 
would  be  irregular  and  unauthorized.  It  has  been  decided 
by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  that  the  courts 
of  the  United  States  have  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  all  seiz- 
ures made  on  land  or  water  for  a  breach  of  the  laws  of  the 
United  States,  and  any  intervention  of  a  State  authority 
which,  by  taking  the  thing  seized  out  of  the  hands  of  the 


Proclamation  225 

United  States  officer,  might  obstruct  the  exercise  of  this 
jurisdiction  is  unlawful;  that  in  such  case  the  court  of  the 
United  States  having  cognizance  of  the  seizure  may  enforce 
a  redelivery  of  the  thing  by  attachment  or  other  summary 
process;  that  the  question  under  such  a  seizure  whether  a 
forfeiture  has  been  actually  incurred  belongs  exclusively  to 
the  courts  of  the  United  States,  and  it  depends  on  the  final 
decree  whether  the  seizure  is  to  be  deemed  rightful  or  tortu- 
ous; and  that  not  until  the  seizure  be  finally  judged  wrong- 
ful and  without  probable  cause  by  the  courts  of  the  United 
States  can  the  party  proceed  at  common  law  for  damages 
in  the  State  courts. 

But  by  making  it  "  unlawful  for  any  of  the  constituted 
authorities,  whether  of  the  United  States  or  of  the  State,  to 
enforce  the  laws  for  the  payment  of  duties,  and  declaring 
that  all  judicial  proceedings  which  shall  be  hereafter  had  in 
affirmance  of  the  contracts  made  with  purpose  to  secure  the 
duties  imposed  by  the  said  acts  are  and  shall  be  held  utterly 
null  and  void,"  she  has  in  effect  abrogated  the  judicial 
tribunals  within  her  limits  in  this  respect,  has  virtually  de- 
nied the  United  States  access  to  the  courts  established  by 
their  own  laws,  and  declared  it  unlawful  for  the  judges  to 
discharge  those  duties  which  they  are  sworn  to  perform.  In 
lieu  of  these  she  has  substituted  those  State  tribunals  al- 
ready adverted  to,  the  judges  whereof  are  not  merely  for- 
bidden to  allow  an  appeal  or  permit  a  copy  of  their  record, 
but  are  previously  sworn  to  disregard  the  laws  of  the  Union 
and  enforce  those  only  of  South  Carolina,  and  thus  deprived 
of  the  function  essential  to  the  judicial  character  of  inquir- 
ing into  the  validity  of  the  law  and  the  right  of  the  matter, 
become  merely  ministerial  instruments  in  aid  of  the  con- 
certed obstruction  of  the  laws  of  the  Union. 

Neither  the  process  nor  authority  of  these  tribunals  thus 
constituted  can  be  respected  consistently  with  the  supremacy 
of  the  laws  or  the  rights  and  security  of  the  citizen.  If  they 
be  submitted  to,  the  protection  due  from  the  Government  to 
its  officers  and  citizens  is  withheld,  and  there  is  at  once  an 
end  not  only  to  the  laws,  but  to  the  Union  itself. 


226  Andrew  Jackson 

Against  such  a  force  as  the  sheriff  may,  and  which  by  the 
replevin  law  of  South  CaroHna  it  is  his  duty  to  exercise,  it 
can  not  be  expected  that  a  collector  can  retain  his  custody 
with  the  aid  of  the  inspectors.  In  such  case,  it  is  true,  it 
would  be  competent  to  institute  suits  in  the  United  States 
courts  against  those  engaged  in  the  unlawful  proceeding,  or 
the  property  might  be  seized  for  a  violation  of  the  revenue 
laws,  and,  being  libeled  in  the  proper  courts,  an  order  might 
be  made  for  its  redelivery,  which  would  be  committed  to  the 
marshal  for  execution.  But  in  that  case  the  fourth  section 
of  the  act,  in  broad  and  unqualified  terms,  makes  it  the  duty 
of  the  sheriff  "  to  prevent  such  recapture  or  seizure,  or  to 
redeliver  the  goods,  as  the  case  may  be,"  "  even  under  any 
process,  order,  or  decrees,  or  other  pretext  contrary  to  the 
true  intent  and  meaning  of  the  ordinance  aforesaid."  It  is 
thus  made  the  duty  of  the  sheriff  to  oppose  the  process  of 
the  courts  of  the  United  States,  and  for  that  purpose,  if 
need  be,  to  employ  the  whole  power  of  the  county.  And  the 
act  expressly  reserves  to  him  all  power  which,  independently 
of  its  provisions,  he  could  have  used.  In  this  reservation  it 
obviously  contemplates  a  resort  to  other  means  than  those 
particularly  mentioned. 

It  is  not  to  be  disguised  that  the  power  which  it  is  thus 
enjoined  upon  the  sheriff  to  employ  is  nothing  less  than  the 
posse  comitatus  in  all  the  rigor  of  the  ancient  common  law. 
This  power,  though  it  may  be  used  against  unlawful  resist- 
ance to  judicial  process,  is  in  its  character  forcible,  and 
analogous  to  that  conferred  upon  the  marshals  by  the  act 
of  1795.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  embodying  of  the  whole  mass 
of  the  population,  under  the  command  of  a  single  individual, 
to  accomplish  by  their  forcible  aid  what  could  not  be  ef- 
fected peaceably  and  by  the  ordinary  means.  It  may  prop- 
erly be  said  to  be  a  relic  of  those  ages  in  which  the  laws 
could  be  defended  rather  by  physical  than  moral  force,  and 
in  its  origin  was  conferred  upon  the  sheriffs  of  England  to 
enable  them  to  defend  their  county  against  any  of  the  King's 
enemies  when  they  came  into  the  land,  as  well  as  for  the 
purpose  of  executing  process.     In  early  and  less  civilized 


Proclamation  227 

times  it  was  intended  to  include  "  the  aid  and  attendance  of 
all  knights  and  others  who  were  bound  to  have  harness." 
It  includes  the  right  of  going  with  arms  and  military  equip- 
ment, and  embraces  larger  classes  and  greater  masses  of 
population  than  can  be  compelled  by  the  laws  of  most  of  the 
States  to  perform  militia  duty.  If  the  principles  of  the 
common  law  are  recognized  in  South  Carolina  (and  from 
this  act  it  would  seem  they  are),  the  power  of  summoning 
the  posse  comitatus  will  compel,  under  the  penalty  of  fine 
and  imprisonment,  every  man  over  the  age  of  15,  and  able 
to  travel,  to  turn  out  at  the  call  of  the  sheriff,  and  with  such 
weapons  as  may  be  necessary;  and  it  may  justify  beating, 
and  even  killing,  such  as  may  resist.  The  use  of  the  posse 
comitatus  is  therefore  a  direct  application  of  force,  and  can 
not  be  otherwise  regarded  than  as  the  employment  of  the 
whole  militia  force  of  the  county,  and  in  an  equally  efficient 
form  under  a  different  name.  No  proceeding  which  resorts 
to  this  power  to  the  extent  contemplated  by  the  act  can  be 
properly  denominated  peaceable. 

The  act  of  South  Carolina,  however,  does  not  rely  alto- 
gether upon  this  forcible  remedy.  For  even  attempting  to 
resist  or  disobey,  though  by  the  aid  only  of  the  ordinary 
officers  of  the  customs,  the  process  of  replevin,  the  collector 
and  all  concerned  are  subjected  to  a  further  proceeding  in 
the  nature  of  a  distress  of  their  personal  effects,  and  are, 
moreover,  made  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  liable  to  be 
punished  by  a  fine  of  not  less  than  $1,000  nor  more  than 
$5,000  and  to  imprisonment  not  exceeding  two  years  and 
not  less  than  six  months;  and  for  even  attempting  to  exe- 
cute the  order  of  the  court  for  retaking  the  property  the 
marshal  and  all  assisting  would  be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor 
and  liable  to  a  fine  of  not  less  than  $3,000  nor  more  than 
$10,000  and  to  imprisonment  not  exceeding  two  years  nor 
less  than  one ;  and  in  case  the  goods  should  be  retaken  under 
such  process  it  is  made  the  absolute  duty  of  the  sheriff  to 
retake  them. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  in  the  face  of  these  penalties, 
aided  by  the  powerful  force  of  the  county,  which  would 


2  28  Andrew  Jackson 

doubtless  be  brought  to  sustain  the  State  officers,  either  that 
the  collector  would  retain  the  custody  in  the  first  instance 
or  that  the  marshal  could  summon  sufficient  aid  to  retake  the 
property  pursuant  to  the  order  or  other  process  of  the  court. 

It  is,  moreover,  obvious  that  in  this  conflict  between  the 
powers  of  the  officers  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  State 
(unless  the  latter  be  passively  submitted  to)  the  destruction 
to  which  the  property  of  the  officers  of  the  customs  would 
be  exposed,  the  commission  of  actual  violence,  and  the  loss 
of  lives  would  be  scarcely  avoidable. 

Under  these  circumstances  and  the  provisions  of  the  acts 
of  South  Carolina  the  execution  of  the  laws  is  rendered  im- 
practicable even  through  the  ordinary  judicial  tribunals  of 
the  United  States.  There  would  certainly  be  fewer  difficul- 
ties, and  less  opportunity  of  actual  collision  between  the 
officers  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  State,  and  the  col- 
lection of  the  revenue  would  be  more  effectually  secured — 
if,  indeed,  it  can  be  done  in  any  other  way — by  placing  the 
custom-house  beyond  the  immediate  power  of  the  county. 

For  this  purpose  it  might  be  proper  to  provide  that  when- 
ever by  any  unlawful  combination  or  obstruction  in  any 
State  or  in  any  port  it  should  become  impracticable  faith- 
fully to  collect  the  duties,  the  President  of  the  United  States 
should  be  authorized  to  alter  and  abolish  such  of  the  dis- 
tricts and  ports  of  entry  as  should  be  necessary,  and  to  es- 
tablish the  custom-house  at  some  secure  place  within  some 
port  or  harbor  of  such  State ;  and  in  such  cases  it  should  be 
the  duty  of  the  collector  to  reside  at  such  place,  and  to  de- 
tain all  vessels  and  cargoes  until  the  duties  imposed  by  law 
should  be  properly  secured  or  paid  in  cash,  deducting  in- 
terest; that  in  such  cases  it  should  be  unlawful  to  take  the 
vessel  and  cargo  from  the  custody  of  the  proper  officer  of 
the  customs  unless  by  process  from  the  ordinary  judicial 
tribunals  of  the  United  States,  and  that  in  case  of  an  at- 
tempt otherwise  to  take  the  property  by  a  force  too  great  to 
be  overcome  by  the  officers  of  the  customs  it  should  be  law- 
ful to  protect  the  possession  of  the  officers  by  the  employ- 
ment of  the  land  and  naval  forces  and  militia,  under  pro- 


Proclamation  229 

visions  similar  to  those  authorized  by  the  eleventh  section 
of  the  act  of  the  9th  of  January,  1809. 

This  provision,  however,  would  not  shield  the  officers  and 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  acting  under  the  laws,  from 
suits  and  prosecutions  in  the  tribunals  of  the  State  which 
might  thereafter  be  brought  against  them,  nor  would  it 
protect  their  property  from  the  proceeding  by  distress,  and 
it  may  well  be  apprehended  that  it  would  be  insufficient  to 
insure  a  proper  respect  to  the  process  of  the  constitutional 
tribunals  in  prosecutions  for  offenses  against  the  United 
States  and  to  protect  the  authorities  of  the  United  States, 
whether  judicial  or  ministerial,  in  the  performance  of  their 
duties.  It  would,  moreover,  be  inadequate  to  extend  the 
protection  due  from  the  Government  to  that  portion  of  the 
people  of  South  Carolina  against  outrage  and  oppression  of 
any  kind  who  may  manifest  their  attachment  and  yield  obe- 
dience to  the  laws  of  the  Union. 

It  may  therefore  be  desirable  to  revive,  with  some  modifi- 
cations better  adapted  to  the  occasion,  the  sixth  section  of 
the  act  of  the  3d  March,  181 5,  which  expired  on  the  4th 
March,  181 7,  by  the  limitation  of  that  of  27th  April,  18 16, 
and  to  provide  that  in  any  case  where  suit  shall  be  brought 
against  any  individual  in  the  courts  of  the  State  for  any  act 
done  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States  he  should  be  au- 
thorized to  remove  the  said  cause  by  petition  into  the  circuit 
court  of  the  United  States  without  any  copy  of  the  record, 
and  that  the  court  should  proceed  to  hear  and  determine  the 
same  as  if  it  had  been  originally  instituted  therein;  and  that 
in  all  cases  of  injuries  to  the  persons  or  property  of  indi- 
viduals for  disobedience  to  the  ordinance  and  laws  of  South 
Carolina  in  pursuance  thereof  redress  may  be  sought  in  the 
courts  of  the  United  States.  It  may  be  expedient  also,  by 
modifying  the  resolution  of  the  3d  March,  1791,  to  author- 
ize the  marshals  to  make  the  necessary  provision  for  the 
safe-keeping  of  prisoners  committed  under  the  authority  of 
the  United  States. 

Provisions  less  than  these,  consisting  as  they  do  for  the 
most  part  rather  of  a  revival  of  the  policy  of  former  acts 


230  Andrew  Jackson 

called  for  by  the  existing  emergency  than  of  the  introduc- 
tion of  any  unusual  or  rigorous  enactments,  would  not  cause 
the  laws  of  the  Union  to  be  properly  respected  or  enforced. 
It  is  believed  these  would  prove  adequate  unless  the  military 
forces  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina  authorized  by  the  late 
act  of  the  legislature  should  be  actually  embodied  and  called 
out  in  aid  of  their  proceedings  and  of  the  provisions  of  the 
ordinance  generally.  Even  in  that  case,  however,  it  is  be- 
lieved that  no  more  will  be  necessary  than  a  few  modifica- 
tions of  its  terms  to  adapt  the  act  of  1795  to  the  present 
emergency,  as  by  that  act  the  provisions  of  the  law  of  1792 
were  accommodated  to  the  crisis  then  existing,  and  by  con- 
ferring authority  upon  the  President  to  give  it  operation 
during  the  session  of  Congress,  and  without  the  ceremony 
of  a  proclamatioH,  whenever  it  shall  be  officially  made 
known  to  him  by  the  authority  of  any  State,  or  by  the  courts 
of  the  United  States,  that  within  the  limits  of  such  State 
the  laws  of  the  United  States  will  be  openly  opposed  and 
their  execution  obstructed  by  the  actual  employment  of  mil- 
itary force,  or  by  any  unlawful  means  whatsoever  too  great 
to  be  otherwise  overcome. 

In  closing  this  communication,  I  should  do  injustice  to 
my  own  feelings  not  to  express  my  confident  reliance  upon 
the  disposition  of  each  department  of  the  Government  to 
perform  its  duty  and  to  cooperate  in  all  measures  necessary 
in  the  present  emergency. 

The  crisis  undoubtedly  invokes  the  fidelity  of  the  patriot 
and  the  sagacity  of  the  statesman,  not  more  in  removing 
such  portion  of  the  public  burden  as  may  be  necessary  than 
in  preserving  the  good  order  of  society  and  in  the  main- 
tenance of  well-regulated  liberty. 

While  a  forbearing  spirit  may,  and  I  trust  will,  be  exer- 
cised toward  the  errors  of  our  brethren  in  a  particular  quar- 
ter, duty  to  the  rest  of  the  Union  demands  that  open  and 
organized  resistance  to  the  laws  should  not  be  executed  with 
impunity. 

The  rich  inheritance  bequeathed  by  our  fathers  has  de- 
volved upon  us  the  sacred  obligation  of  jMeserving  it  by  the 


Proclamation  231 

same  virtues  which  conducted  them  through  the  eventful 
scenes  of  the  Revolution  and  ultimately  crowned  their  strug- 
gle with  the  noblest  model  of  civil  institutions.  They  be- 
queathed to  us  a  Government  of  laws  and  a  Federal  Union 
founded  upon  the  great  principle  of  popular  representation. 
After  a  successful  experiment  of  forty-four  years,  at  a  mo- 
ment when  the  Government  and  the  Union  are  the  objects 
of  the  hopes  of  the  friends  of  civil  liberty  throughout  the 
world,  and  in  the  midst  of  public  and  individual  prosperity 
unexampled  in  history,  we  are  called  to  decide  whether  these 
laws  possess  any  force  and  that  Union  the  means  of  self- 
preservation.  The  decision  of  this  question  by  an  enlight- 
ened and  patriotic  people  can  not  be  doubtful.  For  myself, 
fellow-citizens,  devoutly  relying  upon  that  kind  Providence 
which  has  hitherto  watched  over  our  destinies,  and  actuated 
by  a  profound  reverence  for  those  institutions  I  have  so 
much  cause  to  love,  and  for  the  American  people,  whose 
partiality  honored  me  with  their  highest  trust,  I  have  deter- 
mined to  spare  no  effort  to  discharge  the  duty  which  in  this 
conjuncture  is  devolved  upon  me.  That  a  similar  spirit  will 
actuate  the  representatives  of  the  American  people  is  not  to 
be  questioned ;  and  I  fervently  pray  that  the  Great  Ruler  of 
Nations  may  so  guide  your  deliberations  and  our  joint  meas- 
ures as  that  they  may  prove  salutary  examples  not  only  to 
the  present  but  to  future  times,  and  solemnly  proclaim  that 
the  Constitution  and  the  laws  are  supreme  and  the  Union 
indissoluble. 


Anti-Nullification   Proclamation.* 

(December  lo,  1832.) 
By  Andrew  Jackson,  President  of  the  United  States. 

Whereas  a  convention  assembled  in  the  State  of  South 
Carohna  have  passed  an  ordinance  by  which  they  declare 
"  that  the  several  acts  and  parts  of  acts  of  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  purporting  to  be  laws  for  the  imposing 
of  duties  and  imposts  on  the  importation  of  foreign  com- 
modities, and  now  having  actual  operation  and  effect  within 
the  United  States,  and  more  especially  "  two  acts  for  the 

*  This  most  famous  of  President  Jackson's  state  papers  was  written 
by  his  Secretary  of  State,  Edward  Livingston,  of  Louisiana.  Parton 
records  {Life  of  Jackson,  III.,  p.  466)  that  Jackson  did  not  like  the 
constitutional  doctrines  of  the  Proclamation,  and  Chief  Justice  Taney, 
who  was  Jackson's  Attorney-General  at  the  time,  recorded  nearly 
thirty  years  afterward  that  had  he  been  in  Washington  when  the 
Proclamation  was  issued  he  would  have  objected  to  some  of  its 
doctrines.  {Tyler's  Taney,  188.)  The  Proclamation  is  Madisonian 
rather  than  Jacksonian  in  temper.  Jackson  was  not  suspected  of 
holding  such  constitutional  doctrines  as  it  expresses.  Its  great  and 
ruling  principle  is  forcibly  expressed  in  the  passage:  "I  consider,  then, 
the  power  to  annul  a  law  of  the  United  States,  assumed  by  one  State, 
incompatible  with  the  existence  of  the  Union,  contradicted  expressly 
by  the  letter  of  the  Constitution,  unauthorized  by  its  spirit,  inconsist- 
ent with  every  principle  on  which  it  was  founded,  and  destructive  of 
the  great  object  for  which  it  was  formed." 

This  famous  state  paper  was  one  of  the  three  "sources  of  reference" 
which  Lincoln  called  for  and  with  which  "he  locked  himself  up  in  a 
room  upstairs  over  a  store  across  the  street  from  the  state  house,  and 
there,  cut  off  from  all  communication  and  intrusion,  he  prepared  the 
(first  inaugural)  address."     Herndon's  Life  of  Lincoln,  III.,  p.  478. 

The  Proclamation  has  become  a  great  Jacksonian  tradition,  and 
sets  Jackson  apart  among  presidents  of  the  United  States.  It  should 
be  read  in  its  large  meaning  and  application  as  interpreted  by  events. 
Jackson's  personal  attitude  toward  Nullification  is  revealed  in  his 
letters,  here  printed  for  the  first  time,  in  the  first  part  of  this  volume. 

»3* 


Anti-Nullification  Proclamation     233 

same  purposes  passed  on  the  29th  of  May,  1828,  and  on  the 
14th  of  July,  1832,  "are  unauthorized  by  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  and  violate  the  true  meaning  and  in- 
tent thereof,  and  are  null  and  void  and  no  law,"  nor  binding 
on  the  citizens  of  that  State  or  its  officers ;  and  by  the  said 
ordinance  it  is  further  declared  to  be  unlawful  for  any  of 
the  constituted  authorities  of  the  State  or  of  the  United 
States  to  enforce  the  payment  of  the  duties  imposed  by  the 
said  acts  within  the  same  State,  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
legislature  to  pass  such  laws  as  may  be  necessary  to  give 
full  effect  to  the  said  ordinance ;  and 

Whereas  by  the  said  ordinance  it  is  further  ordained  that 
in  no  case  of  law  or  equity  decided  in  the  courts  of  said  State 
wherein  shall  be  drawn  in  question  the  validity  of  the  said 
ordinance,  or  of  the  acts  of  the  legislature  that  may  be 
passed  to  give  it  effect,  or  of  the  said  laws  of  the  United 
States,  no  appeal  shall  be  allowed  to  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  nor  shall  any  copy  of  the  record  be  per- 
mitted or  allowed  for  that  purpose,  and  that  any  person 
attempting  to  take  such  appeal  shall  be  punished  as  for  con- 
tempt of  court ;  and,  finally,  the  said  ordinance  declares  that 
the  people  of  South  Carolina  will  maintain  the  said  ordi- 
nance at  every  hazard,  and  that  they  will  consider  the 
passage  of  any  act  by  Congress  abolishing  or  closing  the 
ports  of  the  said  State  or  otherwise  obstructing  the  free 
ingress  or  egress  of  vessels  to  and  from  the  said  ports,  or 
any  other  act  of  the  Federal  Government  to  coerce  the  State, 
shut  up  her  ports,  destroy  or  harass  her  commerce,  or  to 
enforce  the  said  acts  otherwise  than  through  the  civil  tribu- 
nals of  the  country,  as  inconsistent  with  the  longer  continu- 
ance of  South  Carolina  in  the  Union,  and  that  the  people  of 
the  said  State  will  thenceforth  hold  themselves  absolved 
from  all  further  obligation  to  maintain  or  preserve  their 
political  connection  with  the  people  of  the  other  States,  and 
will  forthwith  proceed  to  organize  a  separate  government 
and  do  all  other  acts  and  things  which  sovereign  and  inde- 
pendent states  may  of  right  do ;  and 

Whereas  the  said  ordinance  prescribes  to  the  people  of 


2  34  Andrew  Jackson 

South  Carolina  a  course  of  conduct  in  direct  violation  of 
their  duty  as  citizens  of  the  United  States,  contrary  to  the 
laws  of  their  country,  subversive  of  its  Constitution,  and 
having  for  its  object  the  destruction  of  the  Union — that 
Union  which,  coeval  with  our  political  existence,  led  our 
fathers,  without  any  other  ties  to  unite  them  than  those  of 
patriotism  and  a  common  cause,  through  a  sanguinary 
struggle  to .  a  glorious  independence ;  that  sacred  Union, 
hitherto  inviolate,  which,  perfected  by  our  happy  Constitu- 
tion, has  brought  us,  by  the  favor  of  Heaven,  to  a  state  of 
prosperity  at  home  and  high  consideration  abroad  rarely,  if 
ever,  equaled  in  the  history  of  nations : 

To  preserve  this  bond  of  our  political  existence  from  de- 
struction, to  maintain  inviolate  this  state  of  national  honor 
and  prosperity,  and  to  justify  the  confidence  my  fellow-citi- 
zens have  reposed  in  me,  I,  Andrew  Jackson,  President  of 
the  United  States,  have  thought  proper  to  issue  this  my 
proclamation,  stating  my  views  of  the  Constitution  and  laws 
applicable  to  the  measures  adopted  by  the  convention  of 
South  Carolina  and  to  the  reasons  they  have  put  forth  to 
sustain  them,  declaring  the  course  which  duty  will  require 
me  to  pursue,  and,  appealing  to  the  understanding  and 
patriotism  of  the  people,  warn  them  of  the  consequences  that 
must  inevitably  result  from  an  observance  of  the  dictates  of 
the  convention. 

Strict  duty  would  require  of  me  nothing  more  than  the 
exercise  of  those  powers  with  which  I  am  now  or  may  here- 
after be  invested  for  preserving  the  peace  of  the  Union  and 
for  the  execution  of  the  laws ;  but  the  imposing  aspect  which 
opposition  has  assumed  in  this  case,  by  clothing  itself  with 
State  authority,  and  the  deep  interest  which  the  people  of 
the  United  States  must  all  feel  in  preventing  a  resort  to 
stronger  measures  while  there  is  a  hope  that  anything  will 
be  yielded  to  reasoning  and  remonstrance,  perhaps  demand, 
and  will  certainly  justify,  a  full  exposition  to  South  Caro- 
lina and  the  nation  of  the  views  I  entertain  of  this  impor- 
tant question,  as  well  as  a  distinct  enunciation  of  the  course 
which  my  sense  of  duty  will  require  me  to  pursue. 


Anti-Nullification  Proclamation     235 

The  ordinance  is  founded,  not  on  the  indefeasible  right 
of  resisting  acts  which  are  plainly  unconstitutional  and  too 
oppressive  to  be  endured,  but  on  the  strange  position  that 
any  one  State  may  not  only  declare  an  act  of  Congress  void, 
but  prohibit  its  execution ;  that  they  may  do  this  consistently 
with  the  Constitution ;  that  the  true  construction  of  that  in- 
strument permits  a  State  to  retain  its  place  in  the  Union  and 
yet  be  bound  by  no  other  of  its  laws  than  those  it  may  choose 
to  consider  as  constitutional.  It  is  true,  they  add,  that  to 
justify  this  abrogation  of  a  law  it  must  be  palpably  contrary 
to  the  Constitution ;  but  it  is  evident  that  to  give  the  right 
of  resisting  laws  of  that  description,  coupled  with  the  un- 
controlled right  to  decide  what  laws  deserve  that  character, 
is  to  give  the  power  of  resisting  all  laws ;  for  as  by  the  the- 
ory there  is  no  appeal,  the  reasons  alleged  by  the  State,  good 
or  bad,  must  prevail.  If  it  should  be  said  that  public  opin- 
ion is  a  sufficient  check  against  the  abuse  of  this  power,  it 
may  be  asked  why  it  is  not  deemed  a  sufficient  guard  against 
the  passage  of  an  unconstitutional  act  by  Congress  ?  There 
is,  however,  a  restraint  in  this  last  case  which  makes  the 
assumed  power  of  a  State  more  indefensible,  and  which  does 
not  exist  in  the  other.  There  are  two  appeals  from  an  un- 
constitutional act  passed  by  Congress — one  to  the  judiciary, 
the  other  to  the  people  and  the  States.  There  is  no  appeal 
from  the  State  decision  in  theory,  and  the  practical  illustra- 
tion shows  that  the  courts  are  closed  against  an  application 
to  review  it,  both  judges  and  jurors  being  sworn  to  decide 
in  its  favor.  But  reasoning  on  this  subject  is  superfluous 
when  our  social  compact,  in  express  terms,  declares  that  the 
laws  of  the  United  States,  its  Constitution,  and  treaties 
made  under  it  are  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  and,  for 
greater  caution,  adds  "  that  the  judges  in  every  State  shall 
be  bound  thereby,  anything  in  the  constitution  or  laws  of 
any  State  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding."  And  it  may  be 
asserted  without  fear  of  refutation  that  no  federative  gov- 
ernment could  exist  without  a  similar  provision.  Look  for 
a  moment  to  the  consequence.  If  South  Carolina  considers 
the  revenue  laws  unconstitutional  and  has  a  right  to  prevent 


236  Andrew  Jackson 

their  execution  in  the  port  of  Charleston,  there  would  be  a 
clear  constitutional  objection  to  their  collection  in  every 
other  port ;  and  no  revenue  could  be  collected  anywhere,  for 
all  imposts  must  be  equal.  It  is  no  answer  to  repeat  that  an 
unconstitutional  law  is  no  law  so  long  as  the  question  of  its 
legality  is  to  be  decided  by  the  State  itself,  for  every  law 
operating  injuriously  upon  any  local  interest  will  be  perhaps 
thought,  and  certainly  represented,  as  unconstitutional,  and, 
as  has  been  shown,  there  is  no  appeal. 

If  this  doctrine  had  been  established  at  an  earlier  day,  the 
Union  would  have  been  dissolved  in  its  infancy.  The  excise 
law  in  Pennsylvania,  the  embargo  and  nonintercourse  law 
in  the  Eastern  States,  the  carriage  tax  in  Virginia,  were  all 
deemed  unconstitutional,  and  were  more  unequal  in  their 
operation  than  any  of  the  laws  now  complained  of ;  but,  for- 
tunately, none  of  those  States  discovered  that  they  had  the 
right  now  claimed  by  South  Carolina.  The  war  into  which 
we  were  forced  to  support  the  dignity  of  the  nation  and  the 
rights  of  our  citizens  might  have  ended  in  defeat  and  dis- 
grace, instead  of  victory  and  honor,  if  the  States  who  sup- 
posed it  a  ruinous  and  unconstitutional  measure  had  thought 
they  possessed  the  right  of  nullifying  the  act  by  which  it  was 
declared  and  denying  supplies  for  its  prosecution.  Hardly 
and  unequally  as  those  measures  bore  upon  several  members 
of  the  Union,  to  the  legislatures  of  none  did  this  efficient 
and  peaceable  remedy,  as  it  is  called,  suggest  itself.  The 
discovery  of  this  important  feature  in  our  Constitution  was 
reserved  to  the  present  day.  To  the  statesmen  of  South 
Carolina  belongs  the  invention,  and  upon  the  citizens  of  that 
State  will  unfortunately  fall  the  evils  of  reducing  it  to 
practice. 

If  the  doctrine  of  a  State  veto  upon  the  laws  of  the  Union 
carries  with  it  internal  evidence  of  its  impracticable  absurd- 
ity, our  constitutional  history  will  also  afford  abundant 
proof  that  it  would  have  been  repudiated  with  indignation 
had  it  been  proposed  to  form  a  feature  in  our  Government. 

In  our  colonial  state,  although  dependent  on  another 
power,  we  very  early  considered  ourselves  as  connected  by 


Anti-Nullification  Proclamation     237 

common  interest  with  each  other.  Leagues  were  formed 
for  common  defense,  and  before  the  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence we  were  known  in  our  aggregate  character  as  the 
United  Colonies  of  America.  That  decisive  and  important 
step  was  taken  jointly.  We  declared  ourselves  a  nation  by 
a  joint,  not  by  several  acts,  and  when  the  terms  of  our  Con- 
federation were  reduced  to  form  it  was  in  that  of  a  solemn 
league  of  several  States,  by  which  they  agreed  that  they 
would  collectively  form  one  nation  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
ducting some  certain  domestic  concerns  and  all  foreign  re- 
lations. In  the  instrument  forming  that  Union  is  found  an 
article  which  declares  that  "  every  State  shall  abide  by  the 
determinations  of  Congress  on  all  questions  which  by  that 
Confederation  should  be  submitted  to  them." 

Under  the  Confederation,  then,  no  State  could  legally 
annul  a  decision  of  the  Congress  or  refuse  to  submit  to  its 
execution ;  but  no  provision  was  made  to  enforce  these  de- 
cisions. Congress  made  requisitions,  but  they  were  not 
complied  with.  The  Government  could  not  operate  on  in- 
dividuals. They  had  no  judiciary,  no  means  of  collecting 
revenue. 

But  the  defects  of  the  Confederation  need  not  be  detailed. 
Under  its  operation  we  could  scarcely  be  called  a  nation.  We 
had  neither  prosperity  at  home  nor  consideration  abroad. 
This  state  of  things  could  not  be  endured,  and  our  present 
happy  Constitution  was  formed,  but  formed  in  vain  if  this 
fatal  doctrine  prevails.  It  was  formed  for  important  ob- 
jects that  are  announced  in  the  preamble,  made  in  the  name 
and  by  the  authority  of  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
whose  delegates  framed  and  whose  conventions  approved  it. 
The  most  important  among  these  objects — that  which  is 
placed  first  in  rank,  on  which  all  the  others  rest — is  "  to 
form  a  more  perfect  union."  Now,  is  it  possible  that  even 
if  there  were  no  express  provision  giving  supremacy  to  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  over  those  of  the 
States,  can  it  be  conceived  that  an  instrument  made  for  the 
purpose  of  "  forming  a  more  perfect  union  "  than  that  of 
the  Confederation  could  be  so  constructed  by  the  assembled 


238  Andrew  Jackson 

wisdom  of  our  country  as  to  substitute  for  that  Confedera- 
tion a  form  of  government  dependent  for  its  existence  on 
the  local  interest,  the  party  spirit,  of  a  State,  or  of  a  pre- 
vailing faction  in  a  State  ?  Every  man  of  plain,  unsophisti- 
cated understanding  who  hears  the  question  will  give  such 
an  answer  as  will  preserve  the  Union.  Metaphysical  sublety, 
in  pursuit  of  an  impracticable  theory,  could  alone  have  de- 
vised one  that  is  calculated  to  destroy  it. 

I  consider,  then,  the  power  to  annul  a  law  of  the  United 
States,  assumed  by  one  State,  incompatible  with  the  exist- 
ence of  the  Union,  contradicted  expressly  by  the  letter  of 
the  Constitution,  unauthorized  by  its  spirit,  inconsistent 
with  every  principle  on  which  it  was  founded,  and  destruc- 
tive of  the  great  object  for  which  it  was  formed. 

After  this  general  view  of  the  leading  principle,  we  must 
examine  the  particular  application  of  it  which  is  made  in  the 
ordinance. 

The  preamble  rests  its  justification  on  these  grounds:  It 
assumes  as  a  fact  that  the  obnoxious  laws,  although  they 
purport  to  be  laws  for  raising  revenue,  were  in  reality  in- 
tended for  the  protection  of  manufactures,  which  purpose  it 
asserts  to  be  unconstitutional;  that  the  operation  of  these 
laws  is  unequal ;  that  the  amount  raised  by  them  is  greater 
than  is  required  by  the  wants  of  the  Government;  and, 
finally,  that  the  proceeds  are  to  be  applied  to  objects  un- 
authorized by  the  Constitution.  These  are  the  only  causes 
alleged  to  justify  an  open  opposition  to  the  laws  of  the 
country  and  a  threat  of  seceding  from  the  Union  if  any 
attempt  should  be  made  to  enforce  them.  The  first  virtu- 
ally acknowledges  that  the  law  in  question  was  passed  under 
a  power  expressly  given  by  the  Constitution  to  lay  and  col- 
lect imposts;  but  its  constitutionality  is  drawn  in  question 
from  the  motives  of  those  who  passed  it.  However  ap- 
parent this  purpose  may  be  in  the  present  case,  nothing  can 
be  more  dangerous  than  to  admit  the  position  that  an  un- 
constitutional purpose  entertained  by  the  members  who 
assent  to  a  law  enacted  under  a  constitutional  power  shall 
make  that  law  void.    For  how  is  that  purpose  to  be  ascer- 


Anti-Nullification  Proclamation     239 

tained?  Who  is  to  make  the  scrutiny?  How  often  may 
bad  purposes  be  falsely  imputed,  in  how  many  cases  are 
they  concealed  by  false  professions,  in  how  many  is  no 
declaration  of  motive  made  ?  Admit  this  doctrine,  and  you 
give  to  the  States  an  uncontrolled  right  to  decide,  and  every 
law  may  be  annulled  under  this  pretext.  If,  therefore,  the 
absurd  and  dangerous  doctrine  should  be  admitted  that  a 
State  may  annul  an  unconstitutional  law,  or  one  that  it 
deems  such,  it  will  not  apply  to  the  present  case. 

The  next  objection  is  that  the  laws  in  question  operate 
unequally.  This  objection  may  be  made  with  truth  to  every 
law  that  has  been  or  can  be  passed.  The  wisdom  of  man 
never  yet  contrived  a  system  of  taxation  that  would  operate 
with  perfect  equality.  If  the  unequal  operation  of  a  law 
makes  it  unconstitutional,  and  if  all  laws  of  that  description 
may  be  abrogated  by  any  State  for  that  cause,  then,  indeed, 
is  the  Federal  Constitution  unworthy  of  the  slightest  effort 
for  its  preservation.  We  have  hitherto  relied  on  it  as  the 
perpetual  bond  of  our  Union;  we  have  received  it  as  the 
work  of  the  assembled  wisdom  of  the  nation;  we  have 
trusted  to  it  as  to  the  sheet  anchor  of  our  safety  in  the 
stormy  times  of  conflict  with  a  foreign  or  domestic  foe ;  we 
have  looked  to  it  with  sacred  awe  as  the  palladium  of  our 
liberties,  and  with  all  the  solemnities  of  religion  have 
pledged  to  each  other  our  lives  and  fortunes  here  and  our 
hopes  of  happiness  hereafter  in  its  defense  and  support. 
Were  we  mistaken,  my  countrymen,  in  attaching  this  im- 
portance to  the  Constitution  of  our  country  ?  Was  our  de- 
votion paid  to  the  wretched,  inefficient,  clumsy  contrivance 
which  this  new  doctrine  would  make  it?  Did  we  pledge 
ourselves  to  the  support  of  an  airy  nothing — a  bubble  that 
must  be  blown  away  by  the  first  breath  of  disaffection? 
Was  this  self-destroying,  visionary  theory  the  work  of  the 
profound  statesman,  the  exalted  patriots,  to  whom  the  task 
of  constitutional  reform  was  intrusted?  Did  the  name  of 
Washington  sanction,  did  the  States  deliberately  ratify,  such 
an  anomaly  in  the  history  of  fundamental  legislation  ?  No ; 
we  were  not  mistaken.     The  letter  of  this  great  instrument 


240  Andrew  Jackson 

is  free  from  this  radical  fault.  Its  language  directly  con- 
tradicts the  imputation ;  its  spirit,  its  evident  intent,  contra- 
dicts it.  No;  we  did  not  err.  Our  Constitution  does  not 
contain  the  absurdity  of  giving  power  to  make  laws  and 
another  to  resist  them.  The  sages  whose  memory  will  al- 
ways be  reverenced  have  given  us  a  practical  and,  as  they 
hoped,  a  permanent  constitutional  compact.  The  Father  of 
his  Country  did  not  affix  his  revered  name  to  so  palpable  an 
absurdity.  Nor  did  the  States,  when  they  severally  ratified 
it,  do  so  under  the  impression  that  a  veto  on  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  was  reserved  to  them  or  that  they  could  exer- 
cise it  by  implication.  Search  the  debates  in  all  their  con- 
ventions, examine  the  speeches  of  the  most  zealous  opposers 
of  Federal  authority,  look  at  the  amendments  that  were  pro- 
posed ;  they  are  all  silent — not  a  syllable  uttered,  not  a  vote 
given,  not  a  motion  made  to  correct  the  explicit  supremacy 
given  to  the  laws  of  the  Union  over  those  of  the  States,  or 
to  show  that  implication,  as  is  now  contended,  could  defeat 
it.  No;  we  have  not  erred.  The  Constitution  is  still  the 
object  of  our  reverence,  the  bond  of  our  Union,  our  defense 
in  danger,  the  source  of  our  prosperity  in  peace.  It  shall 
descend,  as  we  have  received  it,  uncorrupted  by  sophistical 
construction,  to  our  posterity ;  and  the  sacrifices  of  local  in- 
terest, of  State  prejudices,  of  personal  animosities,  that  were 
made  to  bring  it  into  existence,  will  again  be  patriotically 
offered  for  its  support. 

The  two  remaining  objections  made  by  the  ordinance  to 
these  laws  are  that  the  sums  intended  to  be  raised  by  them 
are  greater  than  are  required  and  that  the  proceeds  will  be 
unconstitutionally  employed. 

The  Constitution  has  given,  expressly,  to  Congress  the 
right  of  raising  revenue  and  of  determining  the  sum  the 
public  exigencies  will  require.  The  States  have  no  control 
over  the  exercise  of  this  right  other  than  that  which  results 
from  the  power  of  changing  the  representatives  who  abuse 
it,  and  thus  procure  redress.  Congress  may  undoubtedly 
abuse  this  discretionary  power;  but  the  same  may  be  said 
of  others  with  which  they  are  vested.     Yet  the  discretion 


Anti-Nullification   Proclamation     241 

must  exist  somewhere.  The  Constitution  has  given  it  to  the 
representatives  of  all  the  people,  checked  by  the  represent- 
atives of  the  States  and  by  the  Executive  power.  The  South 
Carolina  construction  gives  it  to  the  legislature  or  the  con- 
vention of  a  single  State,  where  neither  the  people  of  the 
different  States,  nor  the  States  in  their  separate  capacity, 
nor  the  Chief  Magistrate  elected  by  the  people  have  any 
representation.  Which  is  the  most  discreet  disposition  of 
the  power?  I  do  not  ask  you,  fellow-citizens,  which  is  the 
constitutional  disposition ;  that  instrument  speaks  a  lan- 
guage not  to  be  misunderstood.  But  if  you  were  assembled 
in  general  convention,  wdiich  would  you  think  the  safest 
depository  of  this  discretionary  power  in  the  last  resort? 
Would  you  add  a  clause  giving  it  to  each  of  the  States,  or 
would  you  sanction  the  wise  provisions  already  made  by 
your  Constitution?  If  this  should  be  the  result  of  your  de- 
liberations when  providing  for  the  future,  are  you,  can  you, 
be  ready  to  risk  all  that  we  hold  dear,  to  establish,  for  a 
temporary  and  a  local  purpose,  that  which  you  must  ac- 
knowledge to  be  destructive,  and  even  absurd,  as  a  general 
provision  ?  Carry  out  the  consequences  of  this  right  vested 
in  the  different  States,  and  you  must  perceive  that  the  crisis 
your  conduct  presents  at  this  day  would  recur  whenever  any 
law  of  the  United  States  displeased  any  of  the  States,  and 
that  we  should  soon  cease  to  be  a  nation. 

The  ordinance,  with  the  same  knowledge  of  the  future 
that  characterizes  a  former  objection,  tells  you  that  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  tax  will  be  unconstitutionally  applied.  If  this 
could  be  ascertained  with  certainty,  the  objection  would  with 
more  propriety  be  reserved  for  the  law  so  applying  the  pro- 
ceeds, but  surely  can  not  be  urged  against  the  laws  levying 
the  duty. 

These  are  the  allegations  contained  in  the  ordinance.  Ex- 
amine them  seriously,  my  fellow-citizens;  judge  for  your- 
selves. I  appeal  to  you  to  determine  whether  they  are 
so  clear,  so  convincing,  as  to  leave  no  doubt  of  their  cor- 
rectness; and  even  if  you  should  come  to  this  conclusion, 
how  far  they  justify  the  reckless,  destructive  course  which 


242  Andrew  Jackson 

you  are  directed  to  pursue.  Review  these  objections  and 
the  conclusions  drawn  from  them  once  more.  What  are 
they?  Every  law,  then,  for  raising  revenue,  according  to 
the  South  Carolina  ordinance,  may  be  rightfully  annulled, 
unless  it  be  so  framed  as  no  law  ever  will  or  can  be  framed. 
Congress  have  a  right  to  pass  laws  for  raising  revenue  and 
each  State  have  a  right  to  oppose  their  execution — two 
rights  directly  opposed  to  each  other ;  and  yet  is  this  absurd- 
ity supposed  to  be  contained  in  an  instrument  drawn  for  the 
express  purpose  of  avoiding  collisions  between  the  States 
and  the  General  Government  by  an  assembly  of  the  most 
enlightened  statesmen  and  purest  patriots  ever  embodied 
for  a  similar  purpose  ? 

In  vain  have  these  sages  declared  that  Congress  shall 
have  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  ex- 
cises ;  in  vain  have  they  provided  that  they  shall  have  power 
to  pass  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  to  carry 
those  powers  into  execution,  that  those  laws  and  that  Con- 
stitution shall  be  the  "  supreme  law  of  the  land,  and  that  the 
judges  in  every  State  shall  be  bound  thereby,  anything  in 
the  constitution  or  laws  of  any  State  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding; "  in  vain  have  the  people  of  the  several  States 
solemnly  sanctioned  these  provisions,  made  them  their  para- 
mount law,  and  individually  sworn  to  support  them  when- 
ever they  were  called  on  to  execute  any  office.  Vain  pro- 
visions! ineffectual  restrictions!  vile  profanation  of  oaths! 
miserable  mockery  of  legislation!  if  a  bare  majority  of  the 
voters  in  any  one  State  may,  on  a  real  or  supposed  knowl- 
edge of  the  intent  with  which  a  law  has  been  passed,  declare 
themselves  free  from  its  operation ;  say,  here  it  gives  too 
little;  there,  too  much,  and  operates  unequally;  here  it  suf- 
fers articles  to  be  free  that  ought  to  be  taxed ;  there  it  taxes 
those  that  ought  to  be  free ;  in  this  case  the  proceeds  are 
intended  to  be  applied  to  purposes  which  we  do  not  approve ; 
in  that,  the  amount  raised  is  more  than  is  wanted.  Congress, 
it  is  true,  are  invested  by  the  Constitution  with  the  right  of 
deciding  these  questions  according  to  their  sound  discretion. 
Congress  is  composed  of  the  representatives  of  all  the  States 


Anti-Nullification  Proclamation     243 

and  of  all  the  people  of  all  the  States.  But  we,  part  of  the 
people  of  one  State,  to  whom  the  Constitution  has  given  no 
power  on  the  subject,  from  whom  it  has  expressly  taken  it 
away ;  we,  who  have  solemnly  agreed  that  this  Constitution 
shall  be  our  law ;  we,  most  of  whom  have  sworn  to  support 
it — we  now  abrogate  this  law  and  swear,  and  force  others 
to  swear,  that  it  shall  not  be  obeyed;  and  we  do  this  not 
because  Congress  have  no  right  to  pass  such  laws — this  we 
do  not  allege — but  because  they  have  passed  them  with  im- 
proper views.  They  are  unconstitutional  from  the  motives 
of  those  who  passed  them,  which  we  can  never  with  certainty 
know ;  from  their  unequal  operation,  although  it  is  impos- 
sible, from  the  nature  of  things,  that  they  should  be  equal ; 
and  from  the  disposition  which  we  presume  may  be  made  of 
their  proceeds,  although  that  disposition  has  not  been  de- 
clared. This  is  the  plain  meaning  of  the  ordinance  in  rela- 
tion to  laws  which  it  abrogates  for  alleged  unconstitution- 
ality. But  it  does  not  stop  there.  It  repeals  in  express  terms 
an  important  part  of  the  Constitution  itself  and  of  laws 
passed  to  give  it  effect,  which  have  never  been  alleged  to  be 
unconstitutional. 

The  Constitution  declares  that  the  judicial  powers  of 
the  United  States  extend  to  cases  arising  under  the  laws  of 
the  United  States,  and  that  such  laws,  the  Constitution,  and 
treaties  shall  be  paramount  to  the  State  constitutions  and 
laws.  The  judiciary  act  prescribes  the  mode  by  which  the 
case  may  be  brought  before  a  court  of  the  United  States  by 
appeal  when  a  State  tribunal  shall  decide  against  this  pro- 
vision of  the  Constitution.  The  ordinance  declares  there 
shall  be  no  appeal — makes  the  State  law  paramount  to  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States,  forces  judges 
and  jurors  to  swear  that  they  will  disregard  their  provisions, 
and  even  makes  it  penal  in  a  suitor  to  attempt  relief  by  ap- 
peal. It  further  declares  that  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  the 
authorities  of  the  United  States  or  of  that  State  to  enforce 
the  payment  of  duties  imposed  by  the  revenue  laws  within 
its  limits. 

Here  is  a  law  of  the  United  States,  not  even  pretended  to 


244  Andrew  Jackson 


be  unconstitutional,  repealed  by  the  authority  of  a  small 
majority  of  the  voters  of  a  single  State.  Here  is  a  provision 
of  the  Constitution  which  is  solemnly  abrogated  by  the 
same  authority. 

On  such  expositions  and  reasonings  the  ordinance  grounds 
not  only  an  assertion  of  the  right  to  annul  the  laws  of  which 
it  complains,  but  to  enforce  it  by  a  threat  of  seceding  from 
the  Union  if  any  attempt  is  made  to  execute  them. 

This  right  to  secede  is  deduced  from  the  nature  of  the 
Constitution,  which,  they  say,  is  a  compact  between  sov- 
ereign States  who  have  preserved  their  whole  sovereignty 
and  therefore  are  subject  to  no  superior;  that  because  they 
made  the  compact  they  can  break  it  when  in  their  opinion 
it  has  been  departed  from  by  the  other  States.  Fallacious 
as  this  course  of  reasoning  is,  it  enlists  State  pride  and  finds 
advocates  in  the  honest  prejudices  of  those  who  have  not 
studied  the  nature  of  our  Government  sufficiently  to  see  the 
radical  error  on  which  it  rests. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  formed  the  Constitution, 
acting  through  the  State  legislatures  in  making  the  compact, 
to  meet  and  discuss  its  provisions,  and  acting  in  separate 
conventions  when  they  ratified  those  provisions;  but  the 
terms  used  in  its  construction  show  it  to  be  a  Government 
in  which  the  people  of  all  the  States,  collectively,  are  repre- 
sented. We  are  one  people  in  the  choice  of  President  and 
Vice-President.  Here  the  States  have  no  other  agency  than 
to  direct  the  mode  in  which  the  votes  shall  be  given.  The 
candidates  having  the  majority  of  all  the  votes  are  chosen. 
The  electors  of  a  majority  of  States  may  have  given  their 
votes  for  one  candidate,  and  yet  another  may  be  chosen. 
The  people,  then,  and  not  the  States,  are  represented  in  the 
executive  branch. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives  there  is  this  difference, 
that  the  people  of  one  State  do  not,  as  in  the  case  of  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President,  all  vote  for  the  same  officers.  The 
people  of  all  the  States  do  not  vote  for  all  the  members,  each 
State  electing  only  its  own  representatives.  But  this  creates 
no  material  distinction.     When  chosen,  they  are  all  repre- 


Anti-Nullification   Proclamati 

sentatives  of  the  United  States,  not  repre^^^p^es  of  the 
particular  State  from  which  they  come.^^H^are  paid  by 
the  United  States,  not  by  the  State;  i^^Be  they  account- 
able to  it  for  any  act  done  in  the  per^^Hmce  of  their  legis- 
lative functions;  and  however  the^^H^in  practice,  as  it  is 
their  duty  to  do,  consult  and  ptj^^r  the  interests  of  their 
particular  constituents  when  theijrcome  in  conflict  with  any 
other  partial  or  local  interest,  yet  it  is  their  first  and  highest 
duty,  as  representatives  of  the  United  States,  to  promote 
the  general  good. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  then,  forms  a 
government,  not  a  league;  and  whether  it  be  formed  by 
compact  between  the  States  or  in  any  other  manner,  its  char- 
acter is  the  same.  It  is  a  Government  in  which  all  the  people 
are  represented,  which  operates  directly  on  the  people  in- 
dividually, not  upon  the  States ;  they  retained  all  the  power 
they  did  not  grant.  But  each  State,  having  expressly  parted 
with  so  many  powers  as  to  constitute,  jointly  with  the  other 
States,  a  single  nation,  can  not,  from  that  period,  possess 
any  right  to  secede,  because  such  secession  does  not  break  a 
league,  but  destroys  the  unity  of  a  nation;  and  any  injury 
to  that  unity  is  not  only  a  breach  which  would  result  from 
the  contravention  of  a  compact,  but  it  is  an  offense  against 
the  whole  Union.  To  say  that  any  State  may  at  pleasure 
secede  from  the  Union  is  to  say  that  the  United  States  are 
not  a  nation,  because  it  would  be  a  solecism  to  contend  that 
any  part  of  a  nation  might  dissolve  its  connection  with  the 
other  parts,  to  their  injury  or  ruin,  without  committing  any 
offense.  Secession,  like  any  other  revolutionary  act,  may  be 
morally  justified  by  the  extremity  of  oppression;  but  to  call 
it  a  constitutional  right  is  confounding  the  meaning  of 
terms,  and  can  only  be  done  through  gross  error  or  to  de- 
ceive those  who  are  willing  to  assert  a  right,  but  would 
pause  before  they  made  a  revolution  or  incur  the  penalties 
consequent  on  a  failure. 

Because  the  Union  was  formed  by  a  compact,  it  is  said 
the  parties  to  that  compact  may,  when  they  feel  themselves 
aggrieved,  depart  from  it ;  but  it  is  precisely  because  it  is  a 


246  Andrew  Jackson 

compact  that  they  can  not.  A  compact  is  an  agreement  or 
binding  obHgation.  It  may  by  its  terms  have  a  sanction  or 
penalty  for  its  breach,  or  it  may  not.  If  it  contains  no  sanc- 
tion, it  may  be  broken  with  no  other  consequence  than  moral 
guilt;  if  it  have  a  sanction,  then  the  breach  incurs  the  desig- 
nated or  implied  penalty.  A  league  between  independent 
nations  generally  has  no  sanction  other  than  a  moral  one ; 
or  if  it  should  contain  a  penalty,  as  there  is  no  common 
superior  it  can  not  be  enforced.  A  government,  on  the  con- 
trary, always  has  a  sanction,  express  or  implied ;  and  in  our 
case  it  is  both  necessarily  implied  and  expressly  given.  An 
attempt,  by  force  of  arms,  to  destroy  a  government  is  an 
ofifense,  by  whatever  means  the  constitutional  compact  may 
have  been  formed ;  and  such  government  has  the  right  by 
the  law  of  self-defense  to  pass  acts  for  punishing  the  of- 
fender, unless  that  right  is  modified,  restrained,  or  resumed 
by  the  constitutional  act.  In  our  system,  although  it  is  modi- 
fied in  the  case  of  treason,  yet  authority  is  expressly  given 
to  pass  all  laws  necessary  to  carry  its  powers  into  effect,  and 
under  this  grant  provision  has  been  made  for  punishing  acts 
which  obstruct  the  due  administration  of  the  laws. 

It  would  seem  superfluous  to  add  anything  to  show  the 
nature  of  that  union  which  connects  us,  but  as  erroneous 
opinions  on  this  subject  are  the  foundation  of  doctrines  the 
most  destructive  to  our  peace,  I  must  give  some  further 
development  to  my  views  on  this  subject.  No  one,  fellow- 
citizens,  has  a  higher  reverence  for  the  reserved  rights  of 
the  States  than  the  Magistrate  who  now  addresses  you.  No 
one  would  make  greater  personal  sacrifices  or  official  exer- 
tions to  defend  them  from  violation ;  but  equal  care  must  be 
taken  to  prevent,  on  their  part,  an  improper  interference 
with  or  resumption  of  the  rights  they  have  vested  in  the 
nation.  The  line  has  not  been  so  distinctly  drawn  as  to 
avoid  doubts  in  some  cases  of  the  exercise  of  power.  Men 
of  the  best  intentions  and  soundest  views  may  differ  in  their 
construction  of  some  parts  of  the  Constitution ;  but  there 
are  others  on  which  dispassionate  reflection  can  leave  no 
doubt.     Of  this  nature  appears  to  be  the  assumed  right  of 


Anti-Nullification  Proclamation     247 

secession.  It  rests,  as  we  have  seen,  on  the  alleged  undi- 
vided sovereignty  of  the  States  and  on  their  having  formed 
in  this  sovereign  capacity  a  compact  which  is  called  the  Con- 
stitution, from  which,  because  they  made  it,  they  have  the 
right  to  secede.  Both  of  these  positions  are  erroneous,  and 
some  of  the  arguments  to  prove  them  so  have  been  antici- 
pated. 

The  States  severally  have  not  retained  their  entire  sov- 
ereignty. It  has  been  shown  that  in  becoming  parts  of  a 
nation,  not  members  of  a  league,  they  surrendered  many  of 
their  essential  parts  of  sovereignty.  The  right  to  make 
treaties,  declare  war,  levy  taxes,  exercise  exclusive  judicial 
and  legislative  powers,  were  all  of  them  functions  of  sov- 
ereign power.  The  States,  then,  for  all  these  important 
purposes  were  no  longer  sovereign.  The  allegiance  of  their 
citizens  was  transferred,  in  the  first  instance,  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States;  they  became  American  citizens 
and  owed  obedience  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
and  to  laws  made  in  conformity  with  the  powers  it  vested 
in  Congress.  This  last  position  has  not  been  and  can  not 
be  denied.  How,  then,  can  that  State  be  said  to  be  sov- 
ereign and  independent  whose  citizens  owe  obedience  to 
laws  not  made  by  it  and  whose  magistrates  are  sworn  to 
disregard  those  laws  when  they  come  in  conflict  with  those 
passed  by  another  ?  What  shows  conclusively  that  the  States 
can  not  be  said  to  have  reserved  an  undivided  sovereignty 
is  that  they  expressly  ceded  the  right  to  punish  treason — 
not  treason  against  their  separate  power,  but  treason  against 
the  United  States.  Treason  is  an  offense  against  sover- 
eignty, and  sovereignty  must  reside  with  the  power  to  pun- 
ish it.  But  the  reserved  rights  of  the  States  are  not  less 
sacred  because  they  have,  for  their  common  interest,  made 
the  General  Government  the  depository  of  these  powers. 
The  unity  of  our  political  character  (as  has  been  shown  for 
another  purpose)  commenced  with  its  very  existence.  Un- 
der the  royal  Government  we  had  no  separate  character; 
our  opposition  to  its  oppressions  began  as  united  colonies. 
We  were  the  United  States  under  the  Confederation,  and 


248  Andrew  Jackson 


the  name  was  perpetuated  and  the  Union  rendered  more 
perfect  by  the  Federal  Constitution.  In  none  of  these  stages 
did  we  consider  ourselves  in  any  other  light  than  as  form- 
ing one  nation.  Treaties  and  alliances  were  made  in  the 
name  of  all.  Troops  were  raised  for  the  joint  defense. 
How,  then,  with  all  these  proofs  that  under  all  changes  of 
our  position  we  had,  for  designated  purposes  and  with  de- 
fined powers,  created  national  governments,  how  is  it  that 
the  most  perfect  of  those  several  modes  of  union  should 
now  be  considered  as  a  mere  league  that  may  be  dissolved 
at  pleasure  ?  It  is  from  an  abuse  of  terms.  Compact  is  used 
as  synonymous  with  league,  although  the  true  term  is  not 
employed,  because  it  would  at  once  show  the  fallacy  of  the 
reasoning.  It  would  not  do  to  say  that  our  Constitution  was 
only  a  league,  but  it  is  labored  to  prove  it  a  compact  (which 
in  one  sense  it  is)  and  then  to  argue  that  as  a  league  is  a 
compact  every  compact  between  nations  must  of  course  be 
a  league,  and  that  from  such  an  engagement  every  sovereign 
power  has  a  right  to  recede.  But  it  has  been  shown  that  in 
this  sense  the  States  are  not  sovereign,  and  that  even  if  they 
were,  and  the  national  Constitution  had  been  formed  by 
compact,  there  would  be  no  right  in  any  one  State  to  exon- 
erate itself  from  its  obligations. 

So  obvious  are  the  reasons  which  forbid  this  secession 
that  it  is  necessary  only  to  allude  to  them.  The  Union  was 
formed  for  the  benefit  of  all.  It  was  produced  by  mutual 
sacrifices  of  interests  and  opinions.  Can  those  sacrifices  be 
recalled?  Can  the  States  who  magnanimously  surrendered 
their  titles  to  the  territories  of  the  West  recall  the  grant? 
Will  the  inhabitants  of  the  inland  States  agree  to  pay  the 
duties  that  may  be  imposed  without  their  assent  by  those  on 
the  Atlantic  or  the  Gulf  for  their  own  benefit  ?  Shall  there 
be  a  free  port  in  one  State  and  onerous  duties  in  another? 
No  one  believes  that  any  right  exists  in  a  single  State  to 
involve  all  the  others  in  these  and  countless  other  evils  con- 
trary to  engagements  solemnly  made.  Everyone  must  see 
that  the  other  States,  in  self-defense,  must  oppose  it  at  all 
hazards. 


Anti-Nullification  Proclamation     249 

These  are  the  alternatives  that  are  presented  by  the  con- 
vention— a  repeal  of  all  the  acts  for  raising  revenue,  leaving 
the  Government  without  the  means  of  support,  or  an  ac- 
quiescence in  the  dissolution  of  our  Union  by  the  secession 
of  one  of  its  members.  When  the  first  was  proposed,  it  was 
known  that  it  could  not  be  listened  to  for  a  moment.  It  was 
known,  if  force  was  applied  to  oppose  the  execution  of  the 
laws,  that  it  must  be  repelled  by  force ;  that  Congress  could 
not,  without  involving  itself  in  disgrace  and  the  country  in 
ruin,  accede  to  the  proposition ;  and  yet  if  this  is  not  done 
in  a  given  day,  or  if  any  attempt  is  made  to  execute  the 
laws,  the  State  is  by  the  ordinance  declared  to  be  out  of  the 
Union.  The  majority  of  a  convention  assembled  for  the 
purpose  have  dictated  these  terms,  or  rather  this  rejection 
of  all  terms,  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  South  Carolina. 
It  is  true  that  the  governor  of  the  State  speaks  of  the  sub- 
mission of  their  grievances  to  a  convention  of  all  the  States, 
which,  he  says,  they  "  sincerely  and  anxiously  seek  and  de- 
sire." Yet  this  obvious  and  constitutional  mode  of  obtain- 
ing the  sense  of  the  other  States  on  the  construction  of  the 
federal  compact,  and  amending  it  if  necessary,  has  never 
been  attempted  by  those  who  have  urged  the  State  on  to  this 
destructive  measure.  The  State  might  have  proposed  the 
call  for  a  general  convention  to  the  other  States,  and  Con- 
gress, if  a  sufficient  number  of  them  concurred,  must  have 
called  it.  But  the  first  magistrate  of  South  Carolina,  when 
he  expressed  a  hope  that  "  on  a  review  by  Congress  and  the 
functionaries  of  the  General  Government  of  the  merits  of 
the  controversy "  such  a  convention  will  be  accorded  to 
them,  must  have  known  that  neither  Congress  nor  any  func- 
tionary of  the  General  Government  has  authority  to  call 
such  a  convention  unless  it  be  demanded  by  two-thirds  of 
the  States.  This  suggestion,  then,  is  another  instance  of 
the  reckless  inattention  to  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution 
with  which  this  crisis  has  been  madly  hurried  on,  or  of  the 
attempt  to  persuade  the  people  that  a  constitutional  remedy 
had  been  sought  and  refused.  If  the  legislature  of  South 
Carolina  "  anxiously  desire  "  a  general  convention  to  con- 


250  Andrew  Jackson 

sider  their  complaints,  why  have  they  not  made  application 
for  it  in  the  way  the  Constitution  points  out  ?  The  assertion 
that  they  "  earnestly  seek  "  it  is  completely  negatived  by  the 
omission. 

This,  then,  is  the  position  in  which  we  stand :  A  small 
majority  of  the  citizens  of  one  State  in  the  Union  have 
elected  delegates  to  a  State  convention ;  that  convention  has 
ordained  that  all  the  revenue  laws  of  the  United  States  must 
be  repealed,  or  that  they  are  no  longer  a  member  of  the 
Union.  The  governor  of  that  State  has  recommended  to 
the  legislature  the  raising  of  an  army  to  carry  the  secession 
into  effect,  and  that  he  may  be  empowered  to  give  clearances 
to  vessels  in  the  name  of  the  State.  No  act  of  violent  op- 
position to  the  laws  has  yet  been  committed,  but  such  a  state 
of  things  is  hourly  apprehended.  And  it  is  the  intent  of 
this  instrument  to  proclaim,  not  only  that  the  duty  imposed 
on  me  by  the  Constitution  "  to  take  care  that  the  laws  be 
faithfully  executed  "  shall  be  performed  to  the  extent  of  the 
powers  already  vested  in  me  by  law,  or  of  such  others  as  the 
wisdom  of  Congress  shall  devise  and  intrust  to  me  for  that 
purpose,  but  to  warn  the  citizens  of  South  Carolina  who 
have  been  deluded  into  an  opposition  to  the  laws  of  the 
danger  they  will  incur  by  obedience  to  the  illegal  and  dis- 
organizing ordinance  of  the  convention ;  to  exhort  those  who 
have  refused  to  support  it  to  persevere  in  their  determina- 
tion to  uphold  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  their  country; 
and  to  point  out  to  all  the  perilous  situation  into  which  the 
good  people  of  that  State  have  been  led,  and  that  the  course 
they  are  urged  to  pursue  is  one  of  ruin  and  disgrace  to  the 
very  State  whose  rights  they  affect  to  support. 

Fellow-citizens  of  my  native  State,  let  me  not  only  ad- 
monish you,  as  the  First  Magistrate  of  our  common  coun- 
try, not  to  incur  the  penalty  of  its  laws,  but  use  the  influence 
that  a  father  would  over  his  children  whom  he  saw  rushing 
to  certain  ruin.  In  that  paternal  language,  with  that  pater- 
nal feeling,  let  me  tell  you,  my  countrymen,  that  you  are 
deluded  by  men  who  are  either  deceived  themselves  or  wish 
to  deceive  you.     Mark  under  what  pretenses  you  have  been 


Anti-Nullification  Proclamation     25  ^ 

led  on  to  the  brink  of  insurrection  and  treason  on  which  you 
stand.  First,  a  diminution  of  the  value  of  your  staple  com- 
modity, lowered  by  overproduction  in  other  quarters,  and 
the  consequent  diminution  in  the  value  of  your  lands  were 
the  sole  effect  of  the  tariff  laws.  The  effect  of  those  laws 
was  confessedly  injurious,  but  the  evil  was  greatly  exag- 
gerated by  the  unfounded  theory  you  were  taught  to  believe 
— that  its  burthens  were  in  proportion  to  your  exports,  not 
to  your  consumption  of  imported  articles.  Your  pride  was 
roused  by  the  assertion  that  a  submission  to  those  laws  was 
a  state  of  vassalage  and  that  resistance  to  them  was  equal  in 
patriotic  merit  to  the  opposition  our  fathers  offered  to  the 
oppressive  laws  of  Great  Britain.  You  were  told  that  this 
opposition  might  be  peaceably,  might  be  constitutionally, 
made;  that  you  might  enjoy  all  the  advantages  of  the  Union 
and  bear  none  of  its  burthens.  Eloquent  appeals  to  your 
passions,  to  your  State  pride,  to  your  native  courage,  to 
your  sense  of  real  injury,  were  used  to  prepare  you  for  the 
period  when  the  mask  which  concealed  the  hideous  features 
of  disunioft  should  be  taken  off.  It  fell,  and  you  were  made 
to  look  with  complacency  on  objects  which  not  long  since 
you  would  have  regarded  with  horror.  Look  back  to  the 
arts  which  have  brought  you  to  this  state ;  look  forward  to 
the  consequences  to  which  it  must  inevitably  lead!  Look 
back  to  what  was  first  told  you  as  an  inducement  to  enter 
into  this  dangerous  course.  The  great  political  truth  was 
repeated  to  you  that  you  had  the  revolutionary  right  of  re- 
sisting all  laws  that  were  palpably  unconstitutional  and  in- 
tolerably oppressive.  It  was  added  that  the  right  to  nullify 
a  law  rested  on  the  same  principle,  but  that  it  was  a  peace- 
able remedy.  This  character  which  was  given  to  it  made 
you  receive  with  too  much  confidence  the  assertions  that 
were  made  of  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  law  and  its  op- 
pressive effects.  Mark,  my  fellow-citizens,  that  by  the  ad- 
mission of  your  leaders  the  unconstitutionality  must  be 
palpable,  or  it  will  not  justify  either  resistance  or  nullifica- 
tion. What  is  the  meaning  of  the  word  palpable  in  the  sense 
in  which  it  is  here  used  ?    That  which  is  apparent  to  every- 


252  Andrew  Jackson 

one;  that  which  no  man  of  ordinary  intellect  will  fail  to 
perceive.  Is  the  unconstitutionality  of  these  laws  of  that 
description?  Let  those  among  your  leaders  who  once  ap- 
proved and  advocated  the  principle  of  protective  duties  an- 
swer the  question ;  and  let  them  choose  whether  they  will  be 
considered  as  incapable  then  of  perceiving  that  which  must 
have  been  apparent  to  every  man  of  common  understanding, 
or  as  imposing  upon  your  confidence  and  endeavoring  to 
mislead  you  now.  In  either  case  they  are  unsafe  guides  in 
the  perilous  path  they  urge  you  to  tread.  Ponder  well  on 
this  circumstance,  and  you  will  know  how  to  appreciate  the 
exaggerated  language  they  address  to  you.  They  are  not 
champions  of  liberty,  emulating  the  fame  of  our  Revolu- 
tionary fathers,  nor  are  you  an  oppressed  people,  contend- 
ing, as  they  repeat  to  you,  against  worse  than  colonial  vas- 
salage. You  are  free  members  of  a  flourishing  and  happy 
Union.  There  is  no  settled  design  to  oppress  you.  You 
have  indeed  felt  the  unequal  operation  of  laws  which  may 
have  been  unwisely,  not  unconstitutionally,  passed ;  but  that 
inequality  must  necessarily  be  removed.  At  the  very  mo- 
ment when  you  were  madly  urged  on  to  the  unfortunate 
course  you  have  begim  a  change  in  public  opinion  had  com- 
menced. The  nearly  approaching  payment  of  the  public 
debt  and  the  consequent  necessity  of  a  diminution  of  duties 
had  already  produced  a  considerable  reduction,  and  that, 
too,  on  some  articles  of  general  consumption  in  your  State. 
The  importance  of  this  change  was  underrated,  and  you 
were  authoritatively  told  that  no  further  alleviation  of  your 
burthens  was  to  be  expected  at  the  very  time  when  the  con- 
dition of  the  country  imperiously  demanded  such  a  modifi- 
cation of  the  duties  as  should  reduce  them  to  a  just  and 
equitable  scale.  But,  as  if  apprehensive  of  the  effect  of  this 
change  in  allaying  your  discontents,  you  were  precipitated 
into  the  fearful  state  in  which  you  now  find  yourselves. 

I  have  urged  you  to  look  back  to  the  means  that  were  used 
to  hurry  you  on  to  tlie  position  you  have  now  assumed  and 
forward  to  the  consequences  it  will  produce.  Something 
more  is  necessary.    Contemplate  the  condition  of  that  coun- 


Anti-Nullification   Proclamation     253 

try  of  which  you  still  form  an  important  part.  Consider  its 
Government,  uniting  in  one  bond  of  common  interest  and 
general  protection  so  many  different  States,  giving  to  all 
their  inhabitants  the  proud  title  of  American  cithcn,  pro- 
tecting their  commerce,  securing  their  literature  and  their 
arts,  facilitating  their  intercommunication,  defending  their 
frontiers,  and  making  their  name  respected  in  the  remotest 
parts  of  the  earth.  Consider  the  extent  of  its  territory,  its 
increasing  and  happy  population,  its  advance  in  arts  which 
render  life  agreeable,  and  the  sciences  which  elevate  the 
mind!  See  education  spreading  the  lights  of  religion, 
morality,  and  general  information  into  every  cottage  in  this 
wide  extent  of  our  Territories  and  States.  Behold  it  as  the 
asylum  where  the  wretched  and  the  oppressed  find  a  refuge 
and  support.  Look  on  this  picture  of  happiness  and  honor 
and  say.  We  two  are  citizens  of  America.  Carolina  is  one 
of  these  proud  States;  her  arms  have  defended,  her  best 
blood  has  cemented,  this  happy  Union.  And  then  add,  if 
you  can,  without  horror  and  remorse.  This  happy  Union  we 
will  dissolve;  this  picture  of  peace  and  prosperity  we  will 
deface;  this  free  intercourse  we  will  interrupt;  these  fertile 
fields  we  will  deluge  with  blood;  the  protection  of  that 
glorious  flag  we  renounce ;  the  very  name  of  Americans  we 
discard.  And  for  what,  mistaken  men?  For  what  do  you 
throw  away  these  inestimable  blessings?  For  what  would 
you  exchange  your  share  in  the  advantages  and  honor  of 
the  Union  ?  For  the  dream  of  a  separate  independence — a 
dream  interrupted  by  bloody  conflicts  with  your  neighbors 
and  a  vile  dependence  on  a  foreign  power.  If  your  leaders 
could  succeed  in  establishing  a  separation,  what  would  be 
your  situation?  Are  you  united  at  home?  Are  you  free 
from  the  apprehension  of  civil  discord,  with  all  its  fearful 
consequences?  Do  our  neighboring  republics,  every  day 
suffering  some  new  revolution  or  contending  with  some  new 
insurrection,  do  they  excite  your  envy?  But  the  dictates  of 
a  high  duty  oblige  me  solemnly  to  announce  that  you  can 
not  succeed.  The  laws  of  the  United  States  must  be  exe- 
cuted.    I  have  no  discretionary  power  on  the  subject;  my 


254  Andrew  Jackson 

duty  is  emphatically  pronounced  in  the  Constitution.  Those 
who  told  you  that  you  might  peaceably  prevent  their  execu- 
tion deceived  you ;  they  could  not  have  been  deceived  them- 
selves. They  know  that  a  forcible  opposition  could  alone 
prevent  the  execution  of  the  laws,  and  they  know  that  such 
opposition  must  be  repelled.  Their  object  is  disunion.  But 
be  not  deceived  by  names.  Disunion  by  armed  force  is 
treason.  Are  you  really  ready  to  incur  its  guilt?  If  you 
are,  on  the  heads  of  the  instigators  of  the  act  be  the  dread- 
ful consequences;  on  their  heads  be  the  dishonor,  but  on 
yours  may  fall  the  punishment.  On  your  unhappy  State 
will  inevitably  fall  all  the  evils  of  the  conflict  you  force  upon 
the  Government  of  your  country.  It  can  not  accede  to  the 
mad  project  of  disunion,  of  which  you  would  be  the  first 
victims.  Its  First  Magistrate  can  not,  if  he  would,  avoid 
the  performance  of  his  duty.  The  consequence  must  be 
fearful  for  you,  distressing  to  your  fellow-citizens  here  and 
to  the  friends  of  good  government  throughout  the  world. 
Its  enemies  have  beheld  our  prosperity  with  a  vexation  they 
could  not  conceal ;  it  was  a  standing  refutation  of  their  slav- 
ish doctrines,  and  they  will  point  to  our  discord  with  the 
triumph  of  malignant  joy.  It  is  yet  in  your  power  to  dis- 
appoint them.  There  is  yet  time  to  show  that  the  descend- 
ants of  the  Pinckneys,  the  Sumpters,  the  Rutledges,  and  of 
the  thousand  other  names  which  adorn  the  pages  of  your 
Revolutionary  history  will  not  abandon  that  Union  to  sup- 
port which  so  many  of  them  fought  and  bled  and  died.  I 
adjure  you,  as  you  honor  their  memory,  as  you  love  the 
cause  of  freedom,  to  which  they  dedicated  their  lives,  as  you 
prize  the  peace  of  your  country,  the  lives  of  its  best  citizens, 
and  your  own  fair  fame,  to  retrace  your  steps.  Snatch  from 
the  archives  of  your  State  the  disorganizing  edict  of  its  con- 
vention ;  bid  its  members  to  reassemble  and  promulgate  the 
decided  expressions  of  your  will  to  remain  in  the  path  which 
alone  can  conduct  you  to  safety,  prosperity,  and  honor.  Tell 
them  that  compared  to  disunion  all  other  evils  are  light, 
because  that  brings  with  it  an  accumulation  of  all.  Declare 
that  you  will  never  take  the  field  unless  the  star-spangled 


Anti-Nullification  Proclamation     255 

banner  of  your  country  shall  float  over  you;  that  you  will 
not  be  stigmatized  when  dead,  and  dishonored  and  scorned 
while  you  live,  as  the  authors  of  the  first  attack  on  the  Con- 
stitution of  your  country.  Its  destroyers  you  can  not  be. 
You  may  disturb  its  peace,  you  may  interrupt  the  course  of 
its  prosperity,  you  may  cloud  its  reputation  for  stability; 
but  its  tranquillity  will  be  restored,  its  prosperity  will  re- 
turn, and  the  stain  upon  its  national  character  will  be  trans- 
ferred and  remain  an  eternal  blot  on  the  memory  of  those 
who  caused  the  disorder. 

Fellow-citizens  of  the  United  States,  the  threat  of  unhal- 
lowed disunion,  the  names  of  those  once  respected  by  whom 
it  is  uttered,  the  array  of  military  force  to  support  it,  denote 
the  approach  of  a  crisis  in  our  affairs  on  which  the  continu- 
ance of  our  unexampled  prosperity,  our  political  existence, 
and  perhaps  that  of  all  free  governments  may  depend.  The 
conjuncture  demanded  a  free,  a  full,  and  explicit  enuncia- 
tion, not  only  of  my  intentions,  but  of  my  principles  of 
action ;  and  as  the  claim  was  asserted  of  a  right  by  a  State 
to  annul  the  laws  of  the  Union,  and  even  to  secede  from  it 
at  pleasure,  a  frank  exposition  of  my  opinions  in  relation  to 
the  origin  and  form  of  our  Government  and  the  construc- 
tion I  give  to  the  instrument  by  which  it  was  created  seemed 
to  be  proper.  Having  the  fullest  confidence  in  the  justness 
of  the  legal  and  constitutional  opinion  of  my  duties  which 
has  been  expressed,  I  rely  with  equal  confidence  on  your 
undivided  support  in  my  determination  to  execute  the  laws, 
to  preserve  the  Union  by  all  constitutional  means,  to  arrest, 
if  possible,  by  moderate  and  firm  measures  the  necessity  of 
a  recourse  to  force ;  and  if  it  be  the  will  of  Heaven  that  the 
recurrence  of  its  primeval  curse  on  man  for  the  shedding  of 
a  brother's  blood  should  fall  upon  our  land,  that  it  be  not 
called  down  by  any  offensive  act  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States. 

Fellow-citizens,  the  momentous  case  is  before  you.  On 
your  undivided  support  of  your  Government  depends  the 
decision  of  the  great  question  it  involves — whether  your 
sacred  Union  will  be  preserved  and  the  blessing  it  secures 


256  Andrew  Jackson 

to  us  as  one  people  shall  be  perpetuated.  No  one  can  doubt 
that  the  unanimity  with  which  that  decision  will  be  ex- 
pressed will  be  such  as  to  inspire  new  confidence  in  repub- 
lican institutions,  and  that  the  prudence,  the  wisdom,  and 
the  courage  which  it  will  bring  to  their  defense  will  transmit 
them  unimpaired  and  invigorated  to  our  children. 

May  the  Great  Ruler  of  Nations  grant  that  the  signal 
blessings  with  which  He  has  favored  ours  may  not,  by  the 
madness  of  party  or  personal  ambition,  be  disregarded  and 
lost;  and  may  His  wise  providence  bring  those  who  have 
produced  this  crisis  to  see  the  folly  before  they  feel  the 
misery  of  civil  strife,  and  inspire  a  returning  veneration  for 
that  Union  which,  if  we  may  dare  to  penetrate  His  designs. 
He  has  chosen  as  the  only  means  of  attaining  the  high  des- 
tinies to  which  we  may  reasonably  aspire. 

In  testimony  whereof  I  have  caused  the  seal  of  the  United 
States  to  be  hereunto  affixed,  having  signed  the 
same  with  my  hand. 
[seal.]  Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  loth  day 
of  December,  A.  D.  1832,  and  of  the  Independ- 
ence of  the  United  States  the  fifty-seventh. 

Andrew  Jackson. 
By  the  President: 

Edw.  Livingston, 

Secretary  of  State. 


Second  Inaugural  Address.* 

(March  4,  1833.) 

Fellow-Citizens:  The  will  of  the  American  people,  ex- 
pressed through  their  unsolicited  suffrages,  calls  me  before 
you  to  pass  through  the  solemnities  preparatory  to  taking 
upon  myself  the  duties  of  President  of  the  United  States 
for  another  term.  For  their  approbation  of  my  public  con- 
duct through  a  period  which  has  not  been  without  its  diffi- 
culties, and  for  this  renewed  expression  of  their  confidence 
in  my  good  intentions,  I  am  at  a  loss  for  terms  adequate  to 
the  expression  of  my  gratitude.  It  shall  be  displayed  to  the 
extent  of  my  humble  abilities  in  continued  efforts  so  to  ad- 
minister the  Government  as  to  preserve  their  liberty  and 
promote  their  happiness. 

So  many  events  have  occurred  within  the  last  four  years 
which  have  necessarily  called  forth — sometimes  under  cir- 
cumstances the  most  delicate  and  painful — my  views  of  the 
principles  and  policy  which  ought  to  be  pursued  by  the  Gen- 
eral Government  that  I  need  on  this  occasion  but  allude  to  a 
few  leading  considerations  connected  with  some  of  them. 

The  foreign  policy  adopted  by  our  Government  soon  after 

*  "Jackson  held,"  remarks  his  biographer,  Sumner  (Andrew  Jack- 
son, p.  277),  "that  his  reelection  was  a  triumphant  vindication  of  him 
in  all  the  points  in  which  he  had  been  engaged  in  controversy  with 
anybody,  and  a  kind  of  charter  to  him,  as  representative,  or  rather 
tribune,  of  the  people,  to  go  on  and  govern  on  his  own  judgment  over 
and  against  everybody, including  Congress."  And  again:  "Jackson's 
modes  of  action  in  his  second  term  were  those  of  personal  government. 
He  proceeded  avowedly  on  his  own  initiative  and  responsibility,  to 
experiment,  as  Napoleon  did,  with  great  public  institutions  and  in- 
terests."    {Id.,  p.  279.) 

The  Second  Inaugural  Address  has  a  strong  personal  tone:  confident, 
aggressive,  almost  imperious:  qualities  characteristic  of  Jackson  and 
his  entire  administration. 

aS7 


258  Andrew  Jackson 

the  formation  of  our  present  Constitution,  and  very  gen- 
erally pursued  by  successive  Administrations,  has  been 
crowned  with  almost  complete  success,  and  has  elevated  our 
character  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  To  do  justice  to 
all  and  to  submit  to  wrong  from  none  has  been  during  my 
Administration  its  governing  maxim,  and  so  happy  have 
been  its  results  that  we  are  not  only  at  peace  with  all  the 
world,  but  have  few  causes  of  controversy,  and  those  of 
minor  importance,  remaining  unadjusted. 

In  the  domestic  policy  of  this  Government  there  are  two 
objects  which  especially  deserve  the  attention  of  the  people 
and  their  representatives,  and  which  have  been  and  will  con- 
tinue to  be  the  subjects  of  my  increasing  solicitude.  They 
are  the  preservation  of  the  rights  of  the  several  States  and 
the  integrity  of  the  Union. 

These  great  objects  are  necessarily  connected,  and  can 
only  be  attained  by  an  enlightened  exercise  of  the  powers 
of  each  within  its  appropriate  sphere  in  conformity  with 
the  public  will  constitutionally  expressed.  To  this  end  it 
becomes  the  duty  of  all  to  yield  a  ready  and  patriotic  submis- 
sion to  the  laws  constitutionally  enacted,  and  thereby  pro- 
mote and  strengthen  a  proper  confidence  in  those  institu- 
tions of  the  several  States  and  of  the  United  States  which 
the  people  themselves  have  ordained  for  their  own  govern- 
ment. 

My  experience  in  public  concerns  and  the  observation  of 
a  life  somewhat  advanced  confirm  the  opinions  long  since 
imbibed  by  me,  that  the  destruction  of  our  State  govern- 
ments or  the  annihilation  of  their  control  over  the  local  con- 
cerns of  the  people  would  lead  directly  to  revolution  and 
anarchy,  and  finally  to  despotism  and  military  domination. 
In  proportion,  therefore,  as  the  General  Government  en- 
croaches upon  the  rights  of  the  States,  in  the  same  propor- 
tion docs  it  impair  its  own  power  and  detract  from  its 
ability  to  fulfill  the  purposes  of  its  creation.  Solemnly  im- 
pressed with  these  considerations,  my  countrymen  will  ever 
find  me  ready  to  exercise  my  constitutional  powers  in  ar- 
resting measures  which  may  directly  or  indirectl)^  encroach 


Second  Inaugural  Address         259 

upon  the  rights  of  the  States  or  tend  to  consoHdate  all  po- 
litical power  in  the  General  Government.  But  of  equal,  and, 
indeed,  of  incalculable,  importance  is  the  union  of  these 
States,  and  the  sacred  duty  of  all  to  contribute  to  its  preser- 
vation by  a  liberal  support  of  the  General  Government  in 
the  exercise  of  its  just  powers.  You  have  been  wisely  ad- 
monished to  "  accustom  yourselves  to  think  and  speak  of  the 
Union  as  of  the  palladium  of  your  political  safety  and  pros- 
perity, watching  for  its  preservation  with  jealous  anxiety, 
discountenancing  whatever  may  suggest  even  a  suspicion 
that  it  can  in  any  event  be  abandoned,  and  indignantly 
frowning  upon  the  first  dawning  of  any  attempt  to  alienate 
any  portion  of  our  country  from  the  rest  or  to  enfeeble  the 
sacred  ties  which  now  link  together  the  various  parts." 
Without  union  our  independence  and  liberty  would  never 
have  been  achieved ;  without  union  they  never  can  be  main- 
tained. Divided  into  twenty-four,  or  even  a  smaller  num- 
ber, of  separate  communities,  we  shall  see  our  internal  trade 
burdened  with  numberless  restraints  and  exactions;  com- 
munication between  distant  points  and  sections  obstructed 
or  cut  off;  our  sons  made  soldiers  to  deluge  with  blood 
the  fields  they  now  till  in  peace;  the  mass  of  our  people 
borne  down  and  impoverished  by  taxes  to  support  armies 
and  navies,  and  military  leaders  at  the  head  of  their  victo- 
rious legions  becoming  our  lawgivers  and  judges.  The  loss 
of  liberty,  of  all  good  government,  of  peace,  plenty,  and 
happiness,  must  inevitably  follow  a  dissolution  of  the  Union. 
In  supporting  it,  therefore,  we  support  all  that  is  dear  to  the 
freeman  and  the  philanthropist. 

The  time  at  which  I  stand  before  you  is  full  of  interest. 
The  eyes  of  all  nations  are  fixed  on  our  Republic.  The 
event  of  the  existing  crisis  will  be  decisive  in  the  opinion 
of  mankind  of  the  practicability  of  our  federal  system  of 
government.  Great  is  the  stake  placed  in  our  hands;  great 
is  the  responsibility  which  must  rest  upon  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  Let  us  realize  the  importance  of  the  atti- 
tude in  which  we  stand  before  the  world.  Let  us  exercise 
forbearance   and  firmness.     Let  us  extricate  our  country 


26o  Andrew  Jackson 

from  the  dangers  which  surround  it  and  learn  wisdom  from 
the  lessons  they  inculcate. 

Deeply  impressed  with  the  truth  of  these  observations, 
and  under  the  obligation  of  that  solemn  oath  which  I  am 
about  to  take,  I  shall  continue  to  exert  all  my  faculties  to 
maintain  the  just  powers  of  the  Constitution  and  to  trans- 
mit unimpaired  to  posterity  the  blessings  of  our  Federal 
Union,  At  the  same  time,  it  will  be  my  aim  to  inculcate  by 
my  official  acts  the  necessity  of  exercising  by  the  General 
Government  those  powers  only  that  are  clearly  delegated; 
to  encourage  simplicity  and  economy  in  the  expenditures  of 
the  Government;  to  raise  no  more  money  from  the  people 
than  may  be  requisite  for  these  objects,  and  in  a  manner  that 
will  best  promote  the  interests  of  all  classes  of  the  com- 
munity and  of  all  portions  of  the  Union.  Constantly  bear- 
ing in  mind  that  in  entering  into  society  "  individuals  must 
give  up  a  share  of  liberty  to  preserve  the  rest,"  it  will  be 
my  desire  so  to  discharge  my  duties  as  to  foster  with  our 
brethren  in  all  parts  of  the  country  a  spirit  of  liberal  con- 
cession and  compromise,  and,  by  reconciling  our  fellow- 
citizens  to  those  partial  sacrifices  which  they  must  unavoid- 
ably make  for  the  preservation  of  a  greater  good,  to 
recommend  our  invaluable  Government  and  Union  to  the 
confidence  and  affections  of  the  American  people. 

Finally,  it  is  my  most  fervent  prayer  to  that  Almighty 
Being  before  whom  I  now  stand,  and  who  has  kept  us  in 
His  hands  from  the  infancy  of  our  Republic  to  the  present 
day,  that  He  will  so  overrule  all  my  intentions  and  actions 
and  inspire  the  hearts  of  my  fellow-citizens  that  we  may  be 
preserved  from  dangers  of  all  kinds  and  continue  forever  a 
united  and  happy  people. 


Removal  of  the  Public  Deposits.* 

(Read  to  the  Cabinet  September  i8,  1833.) 

Having  carefully  and  anxiously  considered  all  the  facts 
and  arguments  which  have  been  submitted  to  him  relative 
to  a  removal  of  the  public  deposits  from  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  the  President  deems  it  his  duty  to  communi- 
cate in  this  manner  to  his  Cabinet  the  final  conclusions  of 
his  own  mind  and  the  reasons  on  which  they  are  founded, 
in  order  to  put  them  in  durable  form  and  to  prevent  mis- 
conceptions. 

The  President's  convictions  of  the  dangerous  tendencies 
of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  since  signally  illustrated 
by  its  own  acts,  were  so  overpowering  when  he  entered  on 
the  duties  of  Chief  Magistrate  that  he  felt  it  his  duty,  not- 

*  This  paper  was  prepared  by  Roger  B.  Taney,  Jackson's  Attorney- 
General  {Tyler's  Taney,  p.  204),  afterwards  appointed  by  him  Chief 
Justice  of  the  United  States. 

No  other  official  act  of  Jackson's  produced  greater  commotion  and 
alarm.  Friends  of  the  Bank  declared  that  the  order  would  ruin  the 
country.  Read  in  connection  with  the  history  of  the  times,  this  order 
is  seen  to  be  a  state  paper  of  vast  importance.  With  the  execution  of 
this  order  some  writers  begin  the  changes  which  culminated  in  the 
"Panic  of  1837." 

Benton  records  that  on  reading  this  "paper"  in  the  Globe,  "I  felt 
an  emotion  of  the  moral  sublime  at  beholding  such  an  instance  of  civic 
heroism.  Here  was  a  president,  not  bred  up  in  the  political  pro- 
fession, taking  a  great  step  upon  his  own  responsibility  from  which 
many  of  his  advisers  shrunk ;  and  magnanimously,  in  the  act  itself,  re- 
leasing all  from  the  peril  that  he  encountered,  and  boldly  taking  the 
whole  upon  himself.  I  say  peril ;  for  if  the  Bank  should  conquer,  there 
was  an  end  to  the  political  prospects  of  every  public  man  concurring  in 
the  removal.  He  beheved  the  act  to  be  necessary;  and  believing  that, 
he  did  the  act — leaving  the  consequences  to  God  and  the  country.  I 
felt  Miat  a  great  blow  had  been  struck,  and  that  a  great  contest  must 
come  on,  which  could  only  be  crowned  with  success  by  acting  up  to  the 
spirit  with  which  it  had  commenced."      Thirty  Years'  View,  I.,  p.  378. 

261 


2^2  Andrew  Jackson 

withstanding  the  objections  of  the  friends  by  whom  he  was 
surrounded,  to  avail  himself  of  the  first  occasion  to  call  the 
attention  of  Congress  and  the  people  to  the  question  of  its 
recharter.  The  opinions  expressed  in  his  annual  message 
of  December,  1829,  were  reiterated  in  those  of  December, 
1830  and  1 83 1,  and  in  that  of  1830  he  threw  out  for  con- 
sideration some  suggestions  in  relation  to  a  substitute.  At 
the  session  of  1831-32  an  act  was  passed  by  a  majority  of 
both  Houses  of  Congress  rechartering  the  present  bank, 
upon  which  the  President  felt  it  his  duty  to  put  his  con- 
stitutional veto.  In  his  message  returning  that  act  he  re- 
peated and  enlarged  upon  the  principles  and  views  briefly 
asserted  in  his  annual  message,  declaring  the  bank  to  be,  in 
his  opinion,  both  inexpedient  and  unconstitutional,  and  an- 
nouncing to  his  countrymen  very  unequivocally  his  firm  de- 
termination never  to  sanction  by  his  approval  the  continu- 
ance of  that  institution  or  the  establishment  of  any  other 
upon  similar  principles. 

There  are  strong  reasons  for  believing  that  the  motive 
of  the  bank  in  asking  for  a  recharter  at  that  session  of  Con- 
gress was  to  make  it  a  leading  question  in  the  election  of  a 
President  of  the  United  States  the  ensuing  November,  and 
all  steps  deemed  necessary  were  taken  to  procure  from  the 
people  a  reversal  of  the  President's  decision. 

Although  the  charter  was  approaching  its  termination, 
and  the  bank  was  aware  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the 
Government  to  use  the  public  deposit  as  fast  as  it  has  ac- 
crued in  the  payment  of  the  public  debt,  yet  did  it  extend  its 
loans  from  January,  1831,  to  May,  1832,  from  $42,402,- 
304.24  to  $70,428,070.72  being  an  increase  of  $28,025,- 
766.48  in  sixteen  months.  It  is  confidently  believed  that 
the  leading  object  of  this  immense  extension  of  its  loans 
was  to  bring  as  large  a  portion  of  the  people  as  possible 
under  its  power  and  influence,  and  it  has  been  disclosed  that 
some  of  the  largest  sums  were  granted  on  very  unusual 
terms  to  the  conductors  of  the  public  press.  In  some  of 
these  cases  the  motive  was  made  manifest  by  the  nominal 
or  insufficient  security  taken   for  the  loans,   by  the  large 


Removal  of  the  Public  Deposits    263 

amounts  discounted,  by  the  extraordinary  time  allowed  for 
payment,  and  especially  by  the  subsequent  conduct  of  those 
receiving  the  accommodations. 

Having  taken  these  preliminary  steps  to  obtain  control 
over  public  opinion,  the  bank  came  into  Congress  and  asked 
a  new  charter.  The  object  avowed  by  many  of  the  advo- 
cates of  the  bank  was  to  put  the  President  to  the  test,  that 
the  country  might  know  his  final  determination  relative  to 
the  bank  prior  to  the  ensuing  election.  Many  documents 
and  articles  were  printed  and  circulated  at  the  expense  of 
the  bank  to  bring  the  people  to  a  favorable  decision  upon  its 
pretensions.  Those  whom  the  bank  appears  to  have  made 
its  debtors  for  the  special  occasion  were  warned  of  the  ruin 
which  awaited  them  should  the  President  be  sustained,  and 
attempts  were  made  to  alarm  the  whole  people  by  painting 
the  depression  in  the  price  of  property  and  produce  and  the 
general  loss,  inconvenience,  and  distress  which  it  was  rep- 
resented would  immediately  follow  the  reelection  of  the 
President  in  opposition  to  the  bank. 

Can  it  now  be  said  that  the  question  of  a  recharter  of 
the  bank  was  not  decided  at  the  election  which  ensued? 
Had  the  veto  been  equivocal,  or  had  it  not  covered  the  whole 
ground;  if  it  had  merely  taken  exceptions  to  the  details  of 
the  bill  or  to  the  time  of  its  passage;  if  it  had  not  met  the 
whole  ground  of  constitutionality  and  expediency,  then 
there  might  have  been  some  plausibility  for  the  allegation 
that  the  question  was  not  decided  by  the  people.  It  was  to 
compel  the  President  to  take  his  stand  that  the  question  was 
brought  forward  at  that  particular  time.  He  met  the  chal- 
lenge, willingly  took  the  position  into  which  his  adversaries 
sought  to  force  him,  and  frankly  declared  his  unalterable 
opposition  to  the  bank  as  being  both  unconstitutional  and 
inexpedient.  On  that  ground  the  case  was  argued  to  the 
people;  and  now  that  the  people  have  sustained  the  Presi- 
dent, notwithstanding  the  array  of  influence  and  power 
which  was  brought  to  bear  upon  him,  it  is  too  late,  he  con- 
fidently thinks,  to  say  that  the  question  has  not  been  de- 
cided.    Whatever  may  be  the  opinions  of  others,  the  Pres- 


264  Andrew  Jackson 

ident  considers  his  reelection  as  a  decision  of  the  people 
against  the  bank.  In  the  concluding  paragraph  of  his  veto 
message  he  said: 

I  have  now  done  my  duty  to  my  country.  If  sustained 
by  my  fellow-citizens,  I  shall  be  grateful  and  happy;  if  not, 
I  shall  find  in  the  motives  which  impel  me  ample  grounds 
for  contentment  and  peace. 

He  was  sustained  by  a  just  people,  and  he  desires  to 
evince  his  gratitude  by  carrying  into  effect  their  decision  so 
far  as  it  depends  upon  him. 

Of  all  the  substitutes  for  the  present  bank  which  have 
been  suggested,  none  seems  to  have  united  any  considerable 
portion  of  the  public  in  its  favor.  Most  of  them  are  liable 
to  the  same  constitutional  objections  for  which  the  present 
bank  has  been  condemned,  and  perhaps  to  all  there  are 
strong  objections  on  the  score  of  expediency.  In  ridding 
the  country  of  an  irresponsible  power  which  has  attempted 
to  control  the  Government,  care  must  be  taken  not  to  unite 
the  same  power  with  the  executive  branch.  To  give  a  Pres- 
ident the  control  over  the  currency  and  the  power  over  in- 
dividuals now  possessed  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
even  with  the  material  difference  that  he  is  responsible  to 
the  people,  would  be  as  objectionable  and  as  dangerous  as 
to  leave  it  as  it  is.  Neither  one  nor  the  other  is  necessary, 
and  therefore  ought  not  to  be  resorted  to. 

On  the  whole,  the  President  considers  it  as  conclusively 
settled  that  the  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  will 
not  be  renewed,  and  he  has  no  reasonable  ground  to  believe 
that  any  substitute  will  be  established.  Being  bound  to  reg- 
ulate his  course  by  the  laws  as  they  exist,  and  not  to  an- 
ticipate the  interference  of  the  legislative  power  for  the 
purpose  of  framing  new  systems,  it  is  proper  for  him  season- 
ably to  consider  the  means  by  which  the  services  rendered 
by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  are  to  be  performed  after 
its  charter  shall  expire. 

The  existing  laws  declare  that — 


Removal  of  the  Public  Deposits    265 

The  deposits  of  the  money  of  the  United  States  in  places 
in  which  the  said  bank  and  branches  thereof  may  be  estab- 
Hshed  shall  be  made  in  said  bank  or  branches  thereof  unless 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  at  any  time  otherwise 
order  and  direct,  in  which  case  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury shall  immediately  lay  before  Congress,  if  in  session, 
and,  if  not,  immediately  after  the  commencement  of  the 
next  session,  the  reasons  of  such  order  or  direction. 

The  power  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  over  the 
deposits  is  unqualified.  The  provision  that  he  shall  report 
his  reasons  to  Congress  is  no  limitation.  Had  it  not  been 
inserted  he  would  have  been  responsible  to  Congress  had 
he  made  a  removal  for  any  other  than  good  reasons,  and  his 
responsibility  now  ceases  upon  the  rendition  of  sufficient 
ones  to  Congress.  The  only  object  of  the  provision  is  to 
make  his  reasons  accessible  to  Congress  and  enable  that 
body  the  more  readily  to  judge  of  their  soundness  and  pur- 
ity, and  thereupon  to  make  such  further  provision  by  law 
as  the  legislative  power  may  think  proper  in  relation  to  the 
deposit  of  the  public  money.  Those  reasons  may  be  very 
diversified.  It  was  asserted  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, without  contradiction,  as  early  as  1817,  that  he  had 
power  "  to  control  the  proceedings  "  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  at  any  moment  "  by  changing  the  deposits  to 
the  State  banks  "  should  it  pursue  an  illiberal  course  toward 
those  institutions ;  that  "  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  will 
always  be  disposed  to  support  the  credit  of  the  State  banks, 
and  will  invariably  direct  transfers  from  the  deposits  of  the 
public  money  in  aid  of  their  legitimate  exertions  to  main- 
tain their  credit;"  and  he  asserted  a  right  to  employ  the 
State  banks  when  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  should  re- 
fuse to  receive  on  deposit  the  notes  of  such  State  banks  as 
the  public  interest  required  should  be  received  in  payment 
of  the  public  dues.  In  several  instances  he  did  transfer  the 
public  deposits  to  State  banks  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
branches,  for  reasons  connected  only  with  the  safety  of 
those  banks,  the  public  convenience,  and  the  interests  of  the 
Treasury. 


266  Andrew  Jackson 

If  it  was  lawful  for  Mr.  Crawford,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  at  that  time,  to  act  on  these  principles,  it  will  be 
difficult  to  discover  any  sound  reason  against  the  application 
of  similar  principles  in  still  stronger  cases.  And  it  is  a 
matter  of  surprise  that  a  power  which  in  the  infancy  of  the 
bank  was  freely  asserted  as  one  of  the  ordinary  and  familiar 
duties  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  should  now  be 
gravely  questioned,  and  attempts  made  to  excite  and  alarm 
the  public  mind  as  if  some  new  and  unheard-of  power  was 
about  to  be  usurped  by  the  executive  branch  of  the  Govern- 
ment. 

It  is  but  a  little  more  than  two  and  a  half  years  to  the 
termination  of  the  charter  of  the  present  bank.  It  is  con- 
sidered as  the  decision  of  the  country  that  it  shall  then  cease 
to  exist,  and  no  man,  the  President  believes,  has  reasonable 
ground  for  expectation  that  any  other  Bank  of  the  United 
States  will  be  created  by  Congress. 

To  the  Treasury  Department  is  intrusted  the  safe-keep- 
ing and  faithful  application  of  the  public  moneys.  A  plan 
of  collection  different  from  the  present  must  therefore  be 
introduced  and  put  in  complete  operation  before  the  disso- 
lution of  the  present  bank.  When  shall  it  be  commenced? 
Shall  no  step  be  taken  in  this  essential  concern  until  the 
charter  expires  and  the  Treasury  finds  itself  without  an 
agent,  its  accounts  in  confusion,  with  no  depository  for  its 
funds,  and  the  whole  business  of  the  Government  deranged, 
or  shall  it  be  delayed  until  six  months,  or  a  year,  or  two 
years  before  the  expiration  of  the  charter?  It  is  obvious 
that  any  new  system  which  may  be  substituted  in  the  place 
of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  could  not  be  suddenly  car- 
ried into  effect  on  the  termination  of  its  existence  without 
serious  inconvenience  to  the  Government  and  the  people. 
Its  vast  amount  of  notes  are  then  to  be  redeemed  and  with- 
drawn from  circulation  and  its  immense  debt  collected. 
These  operations  must  be  gradual,  otherwise  much  suffering 
and  distress  will  be  brought  upon  the  community. 

It  ought  to  be  not  a  work  of  months  only,  but  of  years, 
and  the  President  thinks  it  can  not,  with  due  attention  to 


Removal  of  the  Public  Deposits    267 

the  interests  of  the  people,  be  longer  postponed.     It  is  safer 
to  begin  it  too  soon  than  to  delay  it  too  long. 

It  is  for  the  wisdom  of  Congress  to  decide  upon  the  best 
substitute  to  be  adopted  in  the  place  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  President  would  have  felt  himself 
relieved  from  a  heavy  and  painful  responsibility  if  in  the 
charter  to  the  bank  Congress  had  reserved  to  itself  the 
power  of  directing  at  its  pleasure  the  public  money  to  be 
elsewhere  deposited,  and  had  not  devolved  that  power  ex- 
clusively on  one  of  the  Executive  Departments.  It  is  use- 
less now  to  inquire  why  this  high  and  important  power  was 
surrendered  by  those  who  are  peculiarly  and  appropriately 
the  guardians  of  the  public  money.  Perhaps  it  was  an 
oversight.  But  as  the  President  presumes  that  the  charter 
to  the  bank  is  to  be  considered  as  a  contract  on  the  part  of 
the  Government,  it  is  not  now  in  the  power  of  Congress  to 
disregard  its  stipulations ;  and  by  the  terms  of  that  contract 
the  public  money  is  to  be  deposited  in  the  bank  during  the 
continuance  of  its  charter  unless  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury shall  otherwise  direct.  Unless,  therefore,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  first  acts.  Congress  have  no  power  over  the 
subject,  for  they  can  not  add  a  new  clause  to  the  charter  or 
strike  one  out  of  it  without  the  consent  of  the  bank,  and 
consequently  the  public  money  must  remain  in  that  institu- 
tion to  the  last  hour  of  its  existence  unless  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  shall  remove  it  at  an  earlier  day.  The  respon- 
sibility is  thus  thrown  upon  the  executive  branch  of  the 
Government  of  deciding  how  long  before  the  expiration  of 
the  charter  the  public  interest  will  require  the  deposits  to  be 
placed  elsewhere ;  and  although  according  to  the  frame  and 
principle  of  our  Government  this  decision  would  seem  more 
properly  to  belong  to  the  legislative  power,  yet  as  the  law 
has  imposed  it  upon  the  executive  department  the  duty 
ought  to  be  faithfully  and  firmly  met,  and  the  decision  made 
and  executed  upon  the  best  lights  that  can  be  obtained  and 
the  best  judgment  that  can  be  formed.  It  would  ill  become 
the  executive  branch  of  the  Government  to  shrink  from  any 
duty  which  the  law  imposes  on  it,  to  fix  upon  others  the 


268  Andrew  Jackson 

responsibility  which  justly  belongs  to  itself.  And  while 
the  President  anxiously  wishes  to  abstain  from  the  exercise 
of  doubtful  powers  and  to  avoid  all  interference  with  the 
rights  and  duties  of  others,  he  must  yet  with  unshaken  con- 
stancy discharge  his  own  obligations,  and  can  not  allow 
himself  to  turn  aside  in  order  to  avoid  any  responsibility 
which  the  high  trust  with  which  he  has  been  honored  re- 
quires him  to  encounter;  and  it  being  the  duty  of  one  of 
the  Executive  Departments  to  decide  in  the  first  instance, 
subject  to  the  future  action  of  the  legislative  power, 
whether  the  public  deposits  shall  remain  in  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  until  the  end  of  its  existence  or  be  withdrawn 
some  time  before,  the  President  has  felt  himself  bound  to 
examine  the  question  carefully  and  deliberately  in  order  to 
make  up  his  judgment  on  the  subject,  and  in  his  opinion 
the  near  approach  of  the  termination  of  the  charter  and  the 
public  considerations  heretofore  mentioned  are  of  them- 
selves amply  sufficient  to  justify  the  removal  of  the  deposits, 
without  reference  to  the  conduct  of  the  bank  or  their  safety 
in  its  keeping. 

But  in  the  conduct  of  the  bank  may  be  found  other  rea- 
sons, very  imperative  in  their  character,  and  which  require 
prompt  action.  Developments  have  been  made  from  time  to 
time  of  its  faithlessness  as  a  public  agent,  its  misapplication 
of  public  funds,  its  interference  in  elections,  its  efforts  by 
the  machinery  of  committees  to  deprive  the  Government  di- 
rectors of  a  full  knowledge  of  its  concerns,  and,  above  all, 
its  flagrant  misconduct  as  recently  and  unexpectedly  dis- 
closed in  placing  all  the  funds  of  the  bank,  including  the 
money  of  the  Government,  at  the  disposition  of  the  presi- 
dent of  the  bank  as  means  of  operating  upon  public  opinion 
and  procuring  a  new  charter,  without  requiring  him  to  ren- 
der a  voucher  for  their  disbursement.  A  brief  recapitula- 
tion of  the  facts  which  justify  these  charges,  and  which 
have  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  public  and  the  President, 
will,  he  thinks,  remove  every  reasonable  doubt  as  to  the 
course  which  it  is  now  the  duty  of  the  President  to  pursue. 

We  have  seen  that  in  sixteen  months  ending  in  May, 


Removal  of  the   Public   Deposits    269 

1832,  the  bank  had  extended  its  loans  more  than  $28,- 
000,000,  although  it  knew  the  Government  intended  to  ap- 
propriate most  of  its  large  deposit  during  that  year  in  pay- 
ment of  the  public  debt.  It  was  in  May,  1832,  that  its  loans 
arrived  at  the  maximum,  and  in  the  preceding  March  so 
sensible  was  the  bank  that  it  would  not  be  able  to  pay  over 
the  public  deposit  when  it  would  be  required  by  the  Gov- 
ernment that  it  commenced  a  secret  negotiation,  without  the 
approbation  or  knowledge  of  the  Government,  with  the 
agents  for  about  $2,700,000  of  the  3  per  cent  stocks  held  in 
Holland,  with  a  view  of  inducing  them  not  to  come  forward 
for  payment  for  one  or  more  years  after  notice  should  be 
given  by  the  Treasury  Department.  This  arrangement 
would  have  enabled  the  bank  to  keep  and  use  during  that 
time  the  public  money  set  apart  for  the  payment  of  these 
stocks. 

After  this  negotiation  had  commenced,  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  informed  the  bank  that  it  was  his  intention  to 
pay  oflf  one-half  of  the  3  percents  on  the  ist  of  the  succeed- 
ing July,  which  amounted  to  about  $6,500,000.  The  presi- 
dent of  the  bank,  although  the  committee  of  investigation 
was  then  looking  into  its  affairs  at  Philadelphia,  came  im- 
mediately to  Washington,  and  upon  representing  that  the 
bank  was  desirous  of  accommodating  the  importing  mer- 
chants at  New  York  (which  it  failed  to  do)  and  undertak- 
ing to  pay  the  interest  itself,  procured  the  consent  of  the 
Secretary,  after  consultation  with  the  President,  to  postpone 
the  payment  until  the  succeeding  ist  of  October. 

Conscious  that  at  the  end  of  that  quarter  the  bank  would 
not  be  able  to  pay  over  the  deposits,  and  that  further  indul- 
gence was  not  to  be  expected  of  the  Government,  an  agent 
was  dispatched  to  England  secretly  to  negotiate  with  the 
holders  of  the  public  debt  in  Europe  and  induce  them  by  the 
offer  of  an  equal  or  higher  interest  than  that  paid  by  the 
Government  to  hold  back  their  claims  for  one  year,  during 
which  the  bank  expected  thus  to  retain  the  use  of  $5,000,000 
of  the  public  money,  which  the  Government  should  set  apart 
for  the  payment  of  that  debt.    The  agent  made  an  arrange- 


270  Andrew  Jackson 

ment  on  terms,  in  part,  which  were  in  direct  violation  of  the 
charter  of  the  bank,  and  when  some  incidents  connected 
with  this  secret  negotiation  accidentally  came  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  public  and  the  Government,  then,  and  not  be- 
fore, so  much  of  it  as  was  palpably  in  violation  of  the 
charter  was  disavowed.  A  modification  of  the  rest  was  at- 
tempted with  the  view  of  getting  the  certificates  without 
payment  of  the  money,  and  thus  absolving  the  Government 
from  its  liability  to  the  holders.  In  this  scheme  the  bank 
was  partially  successful,  but  to  this  day  the  certificates  of  a 
portion  of  these  stocks  have  not  been  paid  and  the  bank  re- 
tains the  use  of  the  money. 

This  effort  to  thwart  the  Government  in  the  payment  of 
the  public  debt  that  it  might  retain  the  public  money  to  be 
used  for  their  private  interests,  palliated  by  pretenses  no- 
toriously unfounded  and  insincere,  would  have  justified  the 
instant  withdrawal  of  the  public  deposits.  The  negotiation 
itself  rendered  doubtful  the  ability  of  the  bank  to  meet  the 
demands  of  the  Treasury,  and  the  misrepresentations  by 
which  it  was  attempted  to  be  justified  proved  that  no  reli- 
ance could  be  placed  upon  its  allegations. 

If  the  question  of  a  removal  of  the  deposits  presented  it- 
self to  the  Executive  in  the  same  attitude  that  it  appeared 
before  the  House  of  Representatives  at  their  last  session, 
their  resolution  in  relation  to  the  safety  of  the  deposits 
would  be  entitled  to  more  weight,  although  the  decision  of 
the  question  of  removal  has  been  confided  by  law  to  another 
department  of  the  Government.  But  the  question  now  oc- 
curs attended  by  other  circumstances  and  new  disclosures  of 
the  most  serious  import.  It  is  true  that  in  the  message  of 
the  President  which  produced  this  inquiry  and  resolution  on 
the  part  of  the  House  of  Representatives  it  was  his  object 
to  obtain  the  aid  of  that  body  in  making  a  thorough  exam- 
ination into  the  conduct  and  condition  of  the  bank  and  its 
branches  in  order  to  enable  the  executive  department  to  de- 
cide whether  the  public  money  was  longer  safe  in  its  hands. 
The  limited  power  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  over 
the  subject  disabled  him  from  making  the  investigation  as 


Removal   of  the   Public   Deposits    271 

fully  and  satisfactorily  as  it  could  be  done  by  a  committee 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  hence  the  President 
desired  the  assistance  of  Congress  to  obtain  for  the  Treas- 
ury Department  a  full  knowledge  of  all  the  facts  which  were 
necessary  to  guide  his  judgment.  But  it  was  not  his  pur- 
pose, as  the  language  of  his  message  will  show,  to  ask  the 
representatives  of  the  people  to  assume  a  responsibility 
which  did  not  belong  to  them  and  relieve  the  executive 
branch  of  the  Government  from  the  duty  which  the  law 
had  imposed  upon  it.  It  is  due  to  the  President  that  his 
object  in  that  proceeding  should  be  distinctly  understood, 
and  that  he  should  acquit  himself  of  all  suspicion  of  seek- 
ing to  escape  from  the  performance  of  his  own  duties  or  of 
desiring  to  interpose  another  body  between  himself  and  the 
people  in  order  to  avoid  a  measure  which  he  is  called  upon 
to  meet.  But  although  as  an  act  of  justice  to  himself  he 
disclaims  any  design  of  soliciting  the  opinion  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  in  relation  to  his  own  duties  in  order 
to  shelter  himself  from  responsibility  under  the  sanction  of 
their  counsel,  yet  he  is  at  all  times  ready  to  listen  to  the  sug- 
gestions of  the  representatives  of  the  people,  whether  given 
voluntarily  or  upon  solicitation,  and  to  consider  them  with 
the  profound  respect  to  which  all  will  admit  that  they  are 
justly  entitled.  Whatever  may  be  the  consequences,  how- 
ever, to  himself,  he  must  finally  form  his  own  judgment 
where  the  Constitution  and  the  law  make  it  his  duty  to  de- 
cide, and  must  act  accordingly ;  and  he  is  bound  to  suppose 
that  such  a  course  on  his  part  will  never  be  regarded  by 
that  elevated  body  as  a  mark  of  disrespect  to  itself,  but  that 
they  will,  on  the  contrary,  esteem  it  the  strongest  evidence 
he  can  give  of  his  fixed  resolution  conscientiously  to  dis- 
charge his  duty  to  them  and  the  country. 

A  new  state  of  things  has,  however,  arisen  since  the  close 
of  the  last  session  of  Congress,  and  evidence  has  since  been 
laid  before  the  President  which  he  is  persuaded  would  have 
led  the  House  of  Representatives  to  a  different  conclusion 
if  it  had  come  to  their  knowledge.  The  fact  that  the  bank 
controls,  and  in  some  cases  substantially  owns,  and  by  its 


2/2  Andrew  Jackson 

money  supports  some  of  the  leading  presses  of  the  country 
is  now  more  clearly  established.  Editors  to  whom  it  loaned 
extravagant  sums  in  1831  and  1832,  on  unusual  time  and 
nominal  security,  have  since  turned  out  to  be  insolvent,  and 
to  others  apparently  in  no  better  condition  accommodations 
still  more  extravagant,  on  terms  more  unusual,  and  some 
without  any  security,  have  also  been  heedlessly  granted. 

The  allegation  which  has  so  often  circulated  through 
these  channels  that  the  Treasury  was  bankrupt  and  the  bank 
was  sustaining  it,  when  for  many  years  there  has  not  been 
less,  on  an  average,  than  six  millions  of  public  money  in  that 
institution,  might  be  passed  over  as  a  harmless  misrepre- 
sentation; but  when  it  is  attempted  by  substantial  acts  to 
impair  the  credit  of  the  Government  and  tarnish  the  honor 
of  the  country,  such  charges  require  more  serious  attention. 
With  six  millions  of  public  money  in  its  vaults,  after  having 
had  the  use  of  from  five  to  twelve  millions  for  nine  years 
without  interest,  it  became  the  purchaser  of  a  bill  drawn  by 
our  Government  on  that  of  France  for  about  $900,000,  be- 
ing the  first  installment  of  the  French  indemnity.  The  pur- 
chase money  was  left  in  the  use  of  the  bank,  being  simply 
added  to  the  Treasury  deposit.  The  bank  sold  the  bill  in 
England,  and  the  holder  sent  it  to  France  for  collection,  and 
arrangements  not  having  been  made  by  the  French  Gov- 
ernment for  its  payment,  it  was  taken  up  by  the  agents  of 
the  bank  in  Paris  with  the  funds  of  the  bank  in  their  hands. 
Under  these  circumstances  it  has  through  its  organs  openly 
assailed  the  credit  of  the  Government,  and  has  actually  made 
and  persists  in  a  demand  of  15  per  cent,  or  $158,842.77,  as 
damages,  when  no  damage,  or  none  beyond  some  trifling 
expense,  has  in  fact  been  sustained,  and  when  the  bank  had 
in  its  own  possession  on  deposit  several  millions  of  the  pub- 
lic money  which  it  was  then  using  for  its  own  profit.  Is  a 
fiscal  agent  of  the  Government  which  thus  seeks  to  enrich 
itself  at  the  expense  of  the  public  worthy  of  further  trust? 

There  are  other  important  facts  not  in  the  contemplation 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  or  not  known  to  the  mem- 
bers at  the  time  they  voted  for  the  resolution. 


Removal  of  the  Public  Deposits    273 

Although  the  charter  and  the  rules  of  the  bank  both  de- 
clare that  "  not  less  than  seven  directors  "  shall  be  necessary 
to  the  transaction  of  business,  yet  the  most  important  busi- 
ness, even  that  of  granting  discounts  to  any  extent,  is  in- 
trusted to  a  committee  of  five  members^  who  do  not  report 
to  the  board. 

To  cut  off  all  means  of  communication  with  the  Govern- 
ment in  relation  to  its  most  important  acts  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  present  year,  not  one  of  the  Government  direc- 
tors was  placed  on  any  one  committee;  and  although  since, 
by  an  unusual  remodeling  of  those  bodies,  some  of  those 
directors  have  been  placed  on  some  of  the  committees,  they 
are  yet  entirely  excluded  from  the  committee  of  exchange, 
through  which  the  greatest  and  most  objectionable  loans 
have  been  made. 

When  the  Government  directors  made  an  effort  to  bring 
back  the  business  of  the  bank  to  the  board  in  obedience  to 
the  charter  and  the  existing  regulations,  the  board  not  only 
overruled  their  attempt,  but  altered  the  rule  so  as  to  make 
it  conform  to  the  practice,  in  direct  violation  of  one  of  the 
most  important  provisions  of  the  charter  which  gave  them 
existence. 

It  has  long  been  known  that  the  president  of  the  bank, 
by  his  single  will,  originates  and  executes  many  of  the  most 
important  measures  connected  with  the  management  and 
credit  of  the  bank,  and  that  the  committee  as  well  as  the 
board  of  directors  are  left  in  entire  ignorance  of  many  acts 
done  and  correspondence  carried  on  in  their  names,  and  ap- 
parently under  their  authority.  The  fact  has  been  recently 
disclosed  that  an  unlimited  discretion  has  been  and  is  now 
vested  in  the  president  of  the  bank  to  expend  its  funds  in 
payment  for  preparing  and  circulating  articles  and  pur- 
chasing pamphlets  and  newspapers,  calculated  by  their  con- 
tents to  operate  on  elections  and  secure  a  renewal  of  its 
charter.  It  appears  from  the  official  report  of  the  public  di- 
rectors that  on  the  30th  November,  1830,  the  president  sub- 
mitted to  the  board  an  article  published  in  the  American 
Quarterly  Review  containing  favorable  notices  of  the  bank, 


2/4  Andrew   Jackson 

and  suggested  the  expediency  of  giving  it  a  wider  circu- 
lation at  the  expense  of  the  bank;  whereupon  the  board 
passed  the  following  resolution,  viz. : 

Resohed,  That  the  president  be  authorized  to  take  such 
measures  in  regard  to  the  circulation  of  the  contents  of  the 
said  article,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  as  he  may  deem  most 
for  the  interest  of  the  bank. 

By  an  entry  in  the  minutes  of  the  bank  dated  March  ii, 
1 83 1,  it  appears  that  the  president  had  not  only  caused  a 
large  edition  of  that  article  to  be  issued,  but  had  also,  before 
the  resolution  of  30th  November  was  adopted,  procured  to 
be  printed  and  widely  circulated  numerous  copies  of  the  re- 
ports of  General  Smith  and  Mr.  McDuffie  in  favor  of  the 
bank;  and  on  that  day  he  suggested  the  expediency  of  ex- 
tending his  power  to  the  printing  of  other  articles  which 
might  subserve  the  purposes  of  the  institution,  whereupon 
the  following  resolution  was  adopted,  viz. : 

Resolved,  That  the  president  is  hereby  authorized  to 
cause  to  be  prepared  and  circulated  such  documents  and  pa- 
pers as  may  communicate  to  the  people  information  in  re- 
gard to  the  nature  and  operations  of  the  bank. 

The  expenditures  purporting  to  have  been  made  under 
authority  of  these  resolutions  during  the  years  183 1  and 
1832  were  about  80,000.  For  a  portion  of  these  expendi- 
tures vouchers  were  rendered,  from  which  it  appears  that 
they  were  incurred  in  the  purchase  of  some  hundred  thou- 
sand copies  of  newspapers,  reports  and  speeches  made  in 
Congress,  reviews  of  the  veto  message  and  reviews  of 
speeches  against  the  bank,  etc.  For  another  large  portion 
no  vouchers  whatever  were  rendered,  but  the  various  sums 
were  paid  on  orders  of  the  president  of  the  bank,  making 
reference  to  the  resolution  of  the  nth  of  March,  183 1. 

On  ascertaining  these  facts  and  perceiving  that  expendi- 
tures of  a  similar  character  were  still  continued,  the  Gov- 
ernment directors  a  few  weeks  ago  offered  a  resolution  in 


Removal   of  the   Public   Deposits    275 

the  board  calling  for  a  specific  account  of  these  expendi- 
tures, showing  the  objects  to  which  they  had  been  applied 
and  the  persons  to  whom  the  money  had  been  paid.  This 
reasonable  proposition  was  voted  down. 

They  also  offered  a  resolution  rescinding  the  resolutions 
of  November,  1830,  and  March,  1831.  This  also  was  re- 
jected. 

Not  content  with  thus  refusing  to  recall  the  obnoxious 
power  or  even  to  require  such  an  account  of  the  expenditure 
as  would  show  whether  the  money  of  the  bank  had  in  fact 
been  applied  to  the  objects  contemplated  by  these  resolu- 
tions, as  obnoxious  as  they  were,  the  board  renewed  the 
power  already  conferred,  and  even  enjoined  renewed  at- 
tention to  its  exercise  by  adopting  the  following  in  lieu  of 
the  propositions  submitted  by  the  Government  directors, 
viz. : 

Resolved,  That  the  board  have  confidence  in  the  wisdom 
and  integrity  of  the  president  and  in  the  propriety  of  the 
resolutions  of  30th  November,  1830,  and  nth  March,  1831, 
and  entertain  a  full  conviction  of  the  necessity  of  a  renewed 
attention  to  the  object  of  those  resolutions,  and  that  the 
president  be  authorized  and  requested  to  continue  his  exer- 
tions for  the  promotion  of  said  object. 

Taken  in  connection  with  the  nature  of  the  expenditures 
heretofore  made,  as  recently  disclosed,  which  the  board  not 
only  tolerate,  but  approve,  this  resolution  puts  the  funds  of 
the  bank  at  the  disposition  of  the  president  for  the  purpose 
of  employing  the  whole  press  of  the  country  in  the  service 
of  the  bank,  to  hire  writers  and  newspapers,  and  to  pay  out 
such  sums  as  he  pleases  to  what  person  and  for  what  serv- 
ices he  pleases  without  the  responsibility  of  rendering  any 
specific  account.  The  bank  is  thus  converted  into  a  vast 
electioneering  engine,  with  means  to  embroil  the  country  in 
deadly  feuds,  and,  under  cover  of  expenditures  in  them- 
selves improper,  extend  its  corruption  through  all  the  ram- 
ifications of  society. 

Some  of  the  items  for  which  accounts  have  been  ren- 


2/6  Andrew  Jackson 

dered  show  the  construction  which  has  been  given  to  the 
resolutions  and  the  way  in  which  the  power  it  confers  has 
been  exerted.  The  money  has  not  been  expended  merely 
in  the  publication  and  distribution  of  speeches,  reports  of 
committees,  or  articles  written  for  the  purpose  of  showing 
the  constitutionality  or  usefulness  of  the  bank,  but  publi- 
cations have  been  prepared  and  extensively  circulated  con- 
taining the  grossest  invectives  against  the  officers  of  the 
Government,  and  the  money  which  belongs  to  the  stock- 
holders and  to  the  public  has  been  freely  applied  in  efforts 
to  degrade  in  public  estimation  those  who  were  supposed  to 
be  instrumental  in  resisting  the  wishes  of  this  grasping  and 
dangerous  institution.  As  the  president  of  the  bank  has  not 
been  required  to  settle  his  accounts,  no  one  but  himself 
knows  how  much  more  than  the  sum  already  mentioned  may 
have  been  squandered,  and  for  which  a  credit  may  hereafter 
be  claimed  in  his  account  under  this  most  extraordinary  res- 
olution. With  these  facts  before  us  can  we  be  surprised  at 
the  torrent  of  abuse  incessantly  poured  out  against  all  who 
are  supposed  to  stand  in  the  way  of  the  cupidity  or  ambi- 
tion of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States?  Can  we  be  sur- 
prised at  sudden  and  unexpected  changes  of  opinion  in  favor 
of  an  institution  which  has  millions  to  lavish  and  avows  its 
determination  not  to  spare  its  means  when  they  are  neces- 
sary to  accomplish  its  purposes?  The  refusal  to  render  an 
account  of  the  manner  in  which  a  part  of  the  money  ex- 
pended has  been  applied  gives  just  cause  for  the  suspicion 
that  it  has  been  used  for  purposes  which  it  is  not  deemed 
prudent  to  expose  to  the  eyes  of  an  intelligent  and  virtuous 
people.  Those  who  act  justly  do  not  shun  the  light,  nor 
do  they  refuse  explanations  when  the  propriety  of  their  con- 
duct is  brought  into  question. 

With  these  facts  before  him  in  an  official  report  from  the 
Government  directors,  the  President  would  feel  that  he  was 
not  only  responsible  for  all  the  abuses  and  corruptions  the 
bank  has  committed  or  may  commit,  but  almost  an  accom- 
plice in  a  conspiracy  against  that  Government  which  he  has 
sworn  honestly  to  administer,  if  he  did  not  take  every  step 


Removal  of  the   Public  Deposits    277 

within  his  constitutional  and  legal  power  likely  to  be  effi- 
cient in  putting  an  end  to  these  enormities.  If  it  be  possible 
within  the  scope  of  human  affairs  to  find  a  reason  for  re- 
moving the  Government  deposits  and  leaving  the  bank  to 
its  own  resource  for  the  means  of  effecting  its  criminal  de- 
signs, we  have  it  here.  Was  it  expected  when  the  moneys 
of  the  United  States  were  directed  to  be  placed  in  that  bank 
that  they  would  be  put  under  the  control  of  one  man  em- 
powered to  spend  millions  without  rendering  a  voucher  or 
specifying  the  object  ?  Can  they  be  considered  safe  with  the 
evidence  before  us  that  tens  of  thousands  have  been  spent 
for  highly  improper,  if  not  corrupt,  purposes,  and  that  the 
same  motive  may  lead  to  the  expenditure  of  hundreds  of 
thousands,  and  even  millions,  more?  And  can  we  justify 
ourselves  to  the  people  by  longer  lending  to  it  the  money 
and  power  of  the  Government  to  be  employed  for  such  pur- 
poses ? 

It  has  been  alleged  by  some  as  an  objection  to  the  removal 
of  the  deposits  that  the  bank  has  the  power,  and  in  that 
event  will  have  the  disposition,  to  destroy  the  State  banks 
employed  by  the  Government,  and  bring  distress  upon  the 
country.  It  has  been  the  fortune  of  the  President  to  en- 
counter dangers  which  were  represented  as  equally  alarm- 
ing, and  he  has  seen  them  vanish  before  resolution  and 
energy.  Pictures  equally  appalling  were  paraded  before 
him  when  this  bank  came  to  demand  a  new  charter.  But 
what  was  the  result  ?  Has  the  country  been  ruined,  or  even 
distressed?  Was  it  ever  more  prosperous  than  since  that 
act?  The  President  verily  believes  the  bank  has  not  the 
pow^r  to  produce  the  calamities  its  friends  threaten.  The 
funds  of  the  Government  will  not  be  annihilated  by  being 
transferred.  They  will  immediately  be  issued  for  the  bene- 
fit of  trade,  and  if  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  curtails  its 
loans  the  State  banks,  strengthened  by  the  public  de- 
posits, will  extend  theirs.  What  comes  in  through  one  bank 
will  go  out  through  others,  and  the  equilibrium  will  be  pre- 
served. Should  the  bank,  for  the  mere  purpose  of  produc- 
ing distress,  press  its  debtors  more  heavily  than  some  of 


278  Andrew  Jackson 

them  can  bear,  the  consequences  will  recoil  upon  itself,  and 
in  the  attempts  to  embarrass  the  country  it  will  only  bring 
loss  and  ruin  upon  the  holders  of  its  own  stock.  But  if  the 
President  believed  the  bank  possessed  all  the  power  which 
has  been  attributed  to  it,  his  determination  would  only  be 
rendered  the  more  inflexible.  If,  indeed,  this  corporation 
now  holds  in  its  hands  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the 
American  people,  it  is  high  time  to  take  the  alarm.  If  the 
despotism  be  already  upon  us  and  our  only  safety  is  in  the 
mercy  of  the  despot,  recent  developments  in  relation  to  his 
designs  and  the  means  he  employs  show  how  necessary  it  is 
to  shake  it  off.  The  struggle  can  never  come  with  less  dis- 
tress to  the  people  or  under  more  favorable  auspices  than 
at  the  present  moment. 

All  doubt  as  to  the  willingness  of  the  State  banks  to  un- 
dertake the  service  of  the  Government  to  the  same  extent 
and  on  the  same  terms  as  it  is  now  performed  by  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  is  put  to  rest  by  the  report  of  the  agent 
recently  employed  to  collect  information,  and  from  that 
willingness  their  own  safety  in  the  operation  may  be  confi- 
dently inferred.  Knowing  their  own  resources  better  than 
they  can  be  known  by  others,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that 
they  would  be  willing  to  place  themselves  in  a  situation 
which  they  can  not  occupy  without  danger  of  annihilation 
or  embarrassment.  The  only  consideration  applies  to  the 
safety  of  the  public  funds  if  deposited  in  those  institutions, 
and  when  it  is  seen  that  the  directors  of  many  of  them  are 
not  only  willing  to  pledge  the  character  and  capital  of  the 
corporations  in  giving  success  to  this  measure,  but  also  their 
own  property  and  reputation,  we  can  not  doubt  that  they  at 
least  believe  the  public  deposits  would  be  safe  in  their  man- 
agement. The  President  thinks  that  these  facts  and  circum- 
stances afford  as  strong  a  guaranty  as  can  be  had  in  human 
affairs  for  the  safety  of  the  public  funds  and  the  practica- 
bility of  a  new  system  of  collection  and  disbursement 
through  the  agency  of  the  State  banks. 

From  all  these  considerations  the  President  thinks  that 
the  State  banks  ought  immediately  to  be  employed  in  the 


Removal  of  the  Public  Deposits    279 

collection  and  disbursement  of  the  public  revenue,  and  the 
funds  now  in  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  drawn  out  with 
all  convenient  dispatch.  The  safety  of  the  public  moneys  if 
deposited  in  the  State  banks  must  be  secured  beyond  all 
reasonable  doubts ;  but  the  extent  and  nature  of  the  security, 
in  addition  to  their  capital,  if  any  be  deemed  necessary,  is  a 
subject  of  detail  to  which  the  Treasury  Department  will  un- 
doubtedly give  its  anxious  attention.  The  banks  to  be  em- 
ployed must  remit  the  moneys  of  the  Government  without 
charge,  as  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  now  does;  must 
render  all  the  services  which  that  bank  now  performs ;  must 
keep  the  Government  advised  of  their  situation  by  periodi- 
cal returns ;  in  fine,  in  any  arrangement  with  the  State  banks 
the  Government  must  not  in  any  respect  be  placed  on  a 
worse  footing  than  it  now  is.  The  President  is  happy  to 
perceive  by  the  report  of  the  agent  that  the  banks  which  he 
has  consulted  have,  in  general,  consented  to  perform  the 
service  on  these  terms,  and  that  those  in  New  York  have 
further  agreed  to  make  payments  in  London  without  other 
charge  than  the  mere  cost  of  the  bills  of  exchange. 

It  should  also  be  enjoined  upon  any  banks  which  may 
be  employed  that  it  will  be  expected  of  them  to  facilitate 
domestic  exchanges  for  the  benefit  of  internal  commerce ;  to 
grant  all  reasonable  facilities  to  the  payers  of  the  revenue; 
to  exercise  the  utmost  liberality  toward  the  other  State 
banks,  and  do  nothing  uselessly  to  embarrass  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States. 

As  one  of  the  most  serious  objections  to  the -Bank  of 
the  United  States  is  the  power  which  it  concentrates,  care 
must  be  taken  in  finding  other  agents  for  the  service  of  the 
Treasury  not  to  raise  up  another  power  equally  formidable. 
Although  it  would  probably  be  impossible  to  produce  such 
a  result  by  any  organization  of  the  State  banks  which  could 
be  devised,  yet  it  is  desirable  to  avoid  even  the  appearance. 
To  this  end  it  would  be  expedient  to  assume  no  more  power 
over  them  and  interfere  no  more  in  their  afifairs  than  might 
be  absolutely  necessary  to  the  security  of  the  public  deposit 
and  the  faithful  performance  of  their  duties  as  agents  of  the 


28o  Andrew  Jackson 

Treasury.  Any  interference  by  them  in  the  poHtical  con- 
tests of  the  country  with  a  view  to  influence  elections  ought, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  President,  to  be  followed  by  an  imme- 
diate discharge  from  the  public  service. 

It  is  the  desire  of  the  President  that  the  controf  of  the 
banks  and  the  currency  shall,  as  far  as  possible,  be  entirely 
separated  from  the  political  power  of  the  country  as  well  as 
wrested  from  an  institution  which  has  already  attempted  to 
subject  the  Government  to  its  will.  In  his  opinion  the 
action  of  the  General  Government  on  this  subject  ought  not 
to  extend  beyond  the  grant  in  the  Constitution,  which  only 
authorizes  Congress  "  to  coin  money  and  regulate  the  value 
thereof;"  all  else  belongs  to  the  States  and  the  people,  and 
must  be  regulated  by  public  opinion  and  the  interests  of 
trade. 

In  conclusion,  the  President  must  be  permitted  to  remark 
that  he  looks  upon  the  pending  question  as  of  higher  con- 
sideration than  the  mere  transfer  of  a  sum  of  money  from 
one  bank  to  another.  Its  decision  may  affect  the  character 
of  our  Government  for  ages  to  come.  Should  the  bank  be 
suffered  longer  to  use  the  public  moneys  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  its  purposes,  with  the  proofs  of  its  faithlessness  and 
corruption  before  our  eyes,  the  patriotic  among  our  citizens 
will  despair  of  success  in  struggling  against  its  power,  and 
we  shall  be  responsible  for  entailing  it  upon  our  country  for- 
ever. Viewing  it  as  a  question  of  transcendent  importance, 
both  in  the  principles  and  consequences  it  involves,  the 
President  could  not,  in  justice  to  the  responsibility  which 
he  owes  to  the  country,  refrain  from  pressing  upon  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury  his  view  of  the  considerations  which 
impel  to  immediate  action.  Upon  him  has  been  devolved 
by  the  Constitution  and  the  suffrages  of  the  American  peo- 
ple the  duty  of  superintending  the  operation  of  the  Execu- 
tive Departments  of  the  Government  and  seeing  that  the 
laws  are  faithfully  executed.  In  the  performance  of  this 
high  trust  it  is  his  undoubted  right  to  express  to  those  whom 
the  laws  and  his  own  choice  have  made  his  associates  in 
the  administration  of  the  Government  his  opinion  of  their 


Removal  of  the  Public  Deposits    281 

duties  under  circumstances  as  they  arise.  It  is  this  right 
which  he  now  exercises.  Far  be  it  from  him  to  expect  or 
require  that  any  member  of  the  Cabinet  should  at  his  re- 
quest, order,  or  dictation  do  any  act  which  he  beHeves  un- 
lawful or  in  his  conscience  condemns.  From  them  and  from 
his  fellow-citizens  in  general  he  desires  only  that  aid  and 
support  which  their  reason  approves  and  their  conscience 
sanctions. 

In  the  remarks  he  has  made  on  this  all-important  question 
he  trusts  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  will  see  only  the 
frank  and  respectful  declarations  of  the  opinions  which  the 
President  has  formed  on  a  measure  of  great  national  in- 
terest deeply  affecting  the  character  and  usefulness  of  his 
Administration,  and  not  a  spirit  of  dictation,  which  the 
President  would  be  as  careful  to  avoid  as  ready  to  resist. 
Happy  will  he  be  if  the  facts  now  disclosed  produce  uni- 
formity of  opinion  and  unity  of  action  among  the  members 
of  the  Administration. 

The  President  again  repeats  that  he  begs  his  Cabinet  to 
consider  the  proposed  measure  as  his  own,  in  the  support  of 
which  he  shall  require  no  one  of  them  to  make  a  sacrifice  of 
opinion  or  principle.  Its  responsibility  has  been  assumed 
after  the  most  mature  deliberation  and  reflection  as  neces- 
sary to  preserve  the  morals  of  the  people,  the  freedom  of  the 
press,  and  the  purity  of  the  elective  franchise,  without  which 
all  will  unite  in  saying  that  the  blood  and  treasure  expended 
by  our  forefathers  in  the  establishment  of  our  happy  sys- 
tem of  government  will  have  been  vain  and  fruitless.  Un- 
der these  convictions  he  feels  that  a  measure  so  important 
to  the  American  people  can  not  be  commenced  too  soon, 
and  he  therefore  names  the  ist  day  of  October  next  as  a 
period  proper  for  the  change  of  the  deposits,  or  sooner, 
provided  the  necessary  arrangements  with  the  State  banks 
can  be  made. 


Fifth  Annual  Message.* 

(December  3,  1833.) 

Fellow-Citinens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives: On  your  assembling  to  perform  the  high  trusts  which 
the  people  of  the  United  States  have  confided  to  you,  of  leg- 
islating for  their  common  welfare,  it  gives  me  pleasure  to 
congratulate  you  upon  the  happy  condition  of  our  beloved 
country.  By  the  favor  of  Divine  Providence  health  is  again 
restored  to  us,  peace  reigns  within  our  borders,  abundance 
crowns  the  labors  of  our  fields,  commerce  and  domestic  in- 
dustry flourish  and  increase,  and  individual  happiness  re- 
wards the  private  virtue  and  enterprise  of  our  citizens. 

Our  condition  abroad  is  no  less  honorable  than  it  is  pros- 
perous at  home.  Seeking  nothing  that  is  not  right  and  de- 
termined to  submit  to  nothing  that  is  wrong,  but  desiring 
honest  friendships  and  liberal  intercourse  with  all  nations, 
the  United  States  have  gained  throughout  the  world  the 
confidence  and  respect  which  are  due  to  a  policy  so  just  and 
so  congenial  to  the  character  of  the  American  people  and 
to  the  spirit  of  their  institutions. 

In  bringing  to  your  notice  the  particular  state  of  our 
foreign  affairs,  it  affords  me  high  gratification  to  inform 
you  that  they  are  in  a  condition  which  promises  the  con- 
tinuance of  friendship  with  all  nations. 

With  Great  Britain  the  interesting  question  of  our  north- 
eastern boundary  remains  still  undecided.  A  negotiation, 
however,  upon  that  subject  has  been  renewed  since  the  close 
of  the  last  Congress,  and  a  proposition  has  been  submitted 
to  the  British  Government  with  the  view  of  establishing, 

*  The  most  important  parts  of  this  message  are  on  (i)  the  pubHc 
revenues;  (2)  pubHc  expenditures;  (3)  the  removal  of  the  deposits; 
(4)  the  Bank  of  the  U.  S. ;  (5)  Indian  affairs. 

a8a 


Fifth  Annual  Message  283 

in  conformity  with  the  resolution  of  the  Senate,  the  hnc 
designated  by  the  treaty  of  1783.  Though  no  definitive 
answer  has  been  received,  it  may  be  daily  looked  for,  and  1 
entertain  a  hope  that  the  overture  may  ultimately  lead  to  a 
satisfactory  adjustment  of  this  important  matter. 

I  have  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you  that  a  negotiation 
which,  by  desire  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  was 
opened  some  years  ago  with  the  British  Government,  for  the 
erection  of  light-houses  on  the  Bahamas,  has  been  success- 
ful. Those  works,  when  completed,  together  with  those 
which  the  United  States  have  constructed  on  the  western 
side  of  the  Gulf  of  Florida,  will  contribute  essentially  to  the 
safety  of  navigation  in  that  sea.  This  joint  participation  in 
establishments  interesting  to  humanity  and  beneficial  to 
commerce  is  worthy  of  two  enlightened  nations,  and  indi- 
cates feelings  which  can  not  fail  to  have  a  happy  influence 
upon  their  political  relations.  It  is  gratifying  to  the  friends 
of  both  to  perceive  that  the  intercourse  between  the  two 
people  is  becoming  daily  more  extensive,  and  that  senti- 
ments of  mutual  good  will  have  grown  up  befitting  their 
common  origin  and  justifying  the  hope  that  by  wise  coun- 
sels on  each  side  not  only  unsettled  questions  may  be  satis- 
factorily terminated,  but  new  causes  of  misunderstanding 
prevented. 

Notwithstanding  that  I  continue  to  receive  the  most  ami- 
cable assurances  from  the  Government  of  France,  and  that 
in  all  other  respects  the  most  friendly  relations  exist  between 
the  United  States  and  that  Government,  it  is  to  be  regretted 
that  the  stipulations  of  the  convention  concluded  on  the  4th 
July,  1 83 1,  remain  in  some  important  parts  unfulfilled. 

By  the  second  article  of  that  convention  it  was  stipulated 
that  the  sum  payable  to  the  United  States  should  be  paid  at 
Paris,  in  six  annual  installments,  into  the  hands  of  such  per- 
son or  persons  as  should  be  authorized  by  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  to  receive  it,  and  by  the  same  article  the 
first  installment  was  payable  on  the  2d  day  of  February, 
1833.  By  the  act  of  Congress  of  the  13th  July,  1832,  it 
was  made  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to 


284  Andrew  Jackson 

cause  the  several  installments,  with  the  interest  thereon,  to 
be  received  from  the  French  Government  and  transferred 
to  the  United  States  in  such  manner  as  he  may  deem  best; 
and  by  the  same  act  of  Congress  the  stipulations  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States  in  the  convention  were  in  all  re- 
spects fulfilled.  Not  doubting  that  a  treaty  thus  made  and 
ratified  by  the  two  Governments,  and  faithfully  executed  by 
the  United  States,  would  be  promptly  complied  with  by  the 
other  party,  and  desiring  to  avoid  the  risk  and  expense  of 
intermediate  agencies,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  deemed 
it  advisable  to  receive  and  transfer  the  first  installment  by 
means  of  a  draft  upon  the  French  minister  of  finance.  A 
draft  for  this  purpose  was  accordingly  drawn  in  favor  of 
the  cashier  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  for  the  amount 
accruing  to  the  United  States  out  of  the  first  installment, 
and  the  interest  payable  with  it.  This  bill  was  not  drawn 
at  Washington  until  five  days  after  the  installment  was  pay- 
able at  Paris,  and  was  accompanied  by  a  special  authority 
from  the  President  authorizing  the  cashier  or  his  assigns 
to  receive  the  amount.  The  mode  thus  adopted  of  receiv- 
ing the  installment  was  officially  made  known  to  the  French 
Government  by  the  American  charge  d'affaires  at  Paris, 
pursuant  to  instructions  from  the  Department  of  State. 
The  bill,  however,  though  not  presented  for  payment  until 
the  23d  day  of  March,  was  not  paid,  and  for  the  reason  as- 
signed by  the  French  minister  of  finance  that  no  appropria- 
tion had  been  made  by  the  French  Chambers.  It  is  not 
known  to  me  that  up  to  that  period  any  appropriation  had 
been  required  of  the  Chambers,  and  although  a  communi- 
cation was  subsequently  made  to  the  Chambers  by  direc- 
tion of  the  King,  recommending  that  the  necessary  pro- 
vision should  be  made  for  carrying  the  convention  into 
effect,  it  was  at  an  advanced  period  of  the  session,  and  the 
subject  was  finally  postponed  until  the  next  meeting  of  the 
Chambers. 

Notwithstanding  it  has  been  supposed  by  the  French  min- 
istry that  the  financial  stipulations  of  the  treaty  can  not  be 
carried  into  effect  without  an  appropriation  by  the  Cham- 


Fifth   Annual  Message  285 

bers,  it  appears  to  me  to  be  not  only  consistent  with  the 
character  of  France,  but  due  to  the  character  of  both  Gov- 
ernments, as  well  as  to  the  rights  of  our  citizens,  to  treat 
the  convention,  made  and  ratified  in  proper  form,  as  pledg- 
ing the  good  faith  of  the  French  Government  for  its  exe- 
cution, and  as  imposing  upon  each  department  an  obliga- 
tion to  fulfill  it ;  and  I  have  received  assurances  through  our 
charge  d'affaires  at  Paris  and  the  French  minister  pleni- 
potentiary at  Washington,  and  more  recently  through  the 
minister  of  the  United  States  at  Paris,  that  the  delay  has 
not  proceeded  from  any  indisposition  on  the  part  of  the 
King  and  his  ministers  to  fulfill  the  treaty,  and  that  meas- 
ures will  be  presented  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Chambers, 
and  with  a  reasonable  hope  of  success,  to  obtain  the  neces- 
sary appropriation. 

It  is  necessary  to  state,  however,  that  the  documents,  ex- 
cept certain  lists  of  vessels  captured,  condemned,  or  burnt 
at  sea,  proper  to  facilitate  the  examination  and  liquidation 
of  the  reclamations  comprised  in  the  stipulations  of  the  con- 
vention, and  which  by  the  sixth  article  France  engaged  to 
communicate  to  the  United  States  by  the  intermediary  of 
the  legation,  though  repeatedly  applied  for  by  the  American 
charge  d'affaires  under  instructions  from  this  Government, 
have  not  yet  been  communicated ;  and  this  delay,  it  is  appre- 
hended, will  necessarily  prevent  the  completion  of  the  duties 
assigned  to  the  commissioners  within  the  time  at  present 
prescribed  by  law. 

The  reasons  for  delaying  to  communicate  these  docu- 
ments have  not  been  explicitly  stated,  and  this  is  the  more 
to  be  regretted  as  it  is  not  understood  that  the  interposi- 
tion of  the  Chambers  is  in  any  manner  required  for  the  de- 
livery of  those  papers. 

Under  these  circumstances,  in  a  case  so  important  to  the 
interests  of  our  citizens  and  to  the  character  of  our  country, 
and  under  disappointments  so  unexpected,  I  deemed  it  my 
duty,  however  I  might  respect  the  general  assurances  to 
which  I  have  adverted,  no  longer  to  delay  the  appointment 
of  a  minister  plenipotentiary  to  Paris,  but  to  dispatch  him 


286  Andrew  Jackson 

in  season  to  communicate  the  result  of  his  appHcation  to  the 
French  Government  at  an  early  period  of  your  session.  I 
accordingly  appointed  a  distinguished  citizen  for  this  pur- 
pose, who  proceeded  on  his  mission  in  August  last  and  was 
presented  to  the  King  early  in  the  month  of  October.  He 
is  particularly  instructed  as  to  all  matters  connected  with 
the  present  posture  of  affairs,  and  I  indulge  the  hope  that 
with  the  representations  he  is  instructed  to  make,  and  from 
the  disposition  manifested  by  the  King  and  his  ministers  in 
their  recent  assurances  to  our  minister  at  Paris,  the  sub- 
ject will  be  early  considered,  and  satisfactorily  disposed  of 
at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Chambers. 

As  this  subject  involves  important  interests  and  has  at- 
tracted a  considerable  share  of  the  public  attention,  I  have 
deemed  it  proper  to  make  this  explicit  statement  of  its  actual 
condition,  and  should  I  be  disappointed  in  the  hope  now 
entertained  the  subject  will  be  again  brought  to  the  notice 
of  Congress  in  such  manner  as  the  occasion  may  require. 

The  friendly  relations  which  have  always  been  main- 
tained between  the  United  States  and  Russia  have  been 
further  extended  and  strengthened  by  the  treaty  of  naviga- 
tion and  commerce  concluded  on  the  6th  of  December  last, 
and  sanctioned  by  the  Senate  before  the  close  of  its  last  ses- 
sion. The  ratifications  having  been  since  exchanged,  the 
liberal  provisions  of  the  treaty  are  now  in  full  force,  and 
under  the  encouragement  which  they  have  secured  a  flour- 
ishing and  increasing  commerce,  yielding  its  benefits  to  the 
enterprise  of  both  nations,  affords  to  each  the  just  recom- 
pense of  wise  measures,  and  adds  new  motives  for  that 
mutual  friendship  which  the  two  countries  have  hitherto 
cherished  toward  each  other. 

It  affords  me  peculiar  satisfaction  to  state  that  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Spain  has  at  length  yielded  to  the  justice  of  the 
claims  which  have  been  so  long  urged  in  behalf  of  our  citi- 
zens, and  has  expressed  a  willingness  to  provide  an  indemni- 
fication as  soon  as  the  proper  amount  can  be  agreed  upon. 
Upon  this  latter  point  it  is  probable  an  understanding  had 
taken  place  between  the  minister  of  the  United  States  and 


Fifth   Annual  Message  287 

the  Spanish  Government  before  the  decease  of  the  late  King 
of  Spain ;  and,  unless  that  event  may  have  delayed  its  com- 
pletion, there  is  reason  to  hope  that  it  may  be  in  my  power 
to  announce  to  you  early  in  your  present  session  the  con- 
clusion of  a  convention  upon  terms  not  less  favorable  than 
those  entered  into  for  similar  objects  with  other  nations. 
That  act  of  justice  would  well  accord  with  the  character  of 
Spain,  and  is  due  to  the  United  States  from  their  ancient 
friend.  It  could  not  fail  to  strengthen  the  sentiments  of 
amity  and  good  will  between  the  two  nations  which  it  is  so 
much  the  wish  of  the  United  States  to  cherish  and  so  truly 
the  interest  of  both  to  maintain. 

By  the  first  section  of  an  act  of  Congress  passed  on  the 
13th  of  July,  1832,  the  tonnage  duty  on  Spanish  ships  ar- 
riving from  the  ports  of  Spain  was  limited  to  the  duty  pay- 
able on  American  vessels  in  the  ports  of  Spain  previous  to 
the  20th  of  October,  1817,  being  5  cents  per  ton.  That  act 
w^as  intended  to  give  effect  on  our  side  to  an  arrangement 
made  with  the  Spanish  Government  by  which  discriminat- 
ing duties  of  tonnage  were  to  be  abolished  in  the  ports  of 
the  United  States  and  Spain  on  the  vessels  of  the  two  na- 
tions. Pursuant  to  that  arrangement,  which  was  carried 
into  effect  on  the  part  of  Spain  on  the  20th  of  May,  1832, 
by  a  royal  order  dated  the  29th  of  April,  1832,  American 
vessels  in  the  ports  of  Spain  have  paid  5  cents  per  ton,  which 
rate  of  duty  is  also  paid  in  those  ports  by  Spanish  ships; 
but  as  American  vessels  pay  no  tonnage  duty  in  the  ports 
of  the  United  States,  the  duty  of  5  cents  payable  in  our 
ports  by  Spanish  vessels  under  the  act  above  mentioned  is 
really  a  discriminating  duty,  operating  to  the  disadvantage 
of  Spain.  Though  no  complaint  has  yet  been  made  on  the 
part  of  Spain,  we  are  not  the  less  bound  by  the  obligations 
of  good  faith  to  remove  the  discrimination,  and  I  recom- 
mend that  the  act  be  amended  accordingly.  As  the  royal 
order  above  alluded  to  includes  the  ports  of  the  Balearic 
and  Canary  islands  as  v^ell  as  those  of  Spain,  it  would  seem 
that  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  Congress  should  be  equally 
extensive,  and  that  for  the  repayment  of  such  duties  as  may 


288  Andrew  Jackson 

have  been  improperly  received  an  addition  should  be  made 
to  the  sum  appropriated  at  the  last  session  of  Congress  for 
refunding  discriminating  duties. 

As  the  arrangement  referred  to,  however,  did  not  em- 
brace the  islands  of  Cuba  and  Puerto  Rico,  discriminating 
duties  to  the  prejudice  of  American  shipping  continue  to  be 
levied  there.  From  the  extent  of  the  commerce  carried  on 
between  the  United  States  and  those  islands,  particularly 
the  former,  this  discrimination  causes  serious  injury  to  one 
of  those  great  national  interests  which  it  has  been  consid- 
ered an  essential  part  of  our  policy  to  cherish,  and  has  given 
rise  to  complaints  on  the  part  of  our  merchants.  Under  in- 
structions given  to  our  minister  at  Madrid,  earnest  repre- 
sentations have  been  made  by  him  to  the  Spanish  Govern- 
ment upon  this  subject,  and  there  is  reason  to  expect,  from 
the  friendly  disposition  which  is  entertained  toward  this 
country,  that  a  beneficial  change  will  be  produced.  The  dis- 
advantage, however,  to  which  our  shipping  is  subjected  by 
the  operation  of  these  discriminating  duties  requires  that 
they  be  met  by  suitable  countervailing  duties  during  your 
present  session,  power  being  at  the  same  time  vested  in  the 
President  to  modify  or  discontinue  them  as  the  discriminat- 
ing duties  on  American  vessels  or  their  cargoes  may  be 
modified  or  discontinued  at  those  islands.  Intimations  have 
been  given  to  the  Spanish  Government  that  the  United 
States  may  be  obliged  to  resort  to  such  measures  as  are  of 
necessary  self-defense,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  apprehend 
that  it  would  be  unfavorably  received.  The  proposed  pro- 
ceeding if  adopted  would  not  be  permitted,  however,  in  any 
degree  to  induce  a  relaxation  in  the  efforts  of  our  minister 
to  effect  a  repeal  of  this  irregularity  by  friendly  negotiation, 
and  it  might  serve  to  give  force  to  his  representations  by 
showing  the  dangers  to  which  that  valuable  trade  is  exposed 
by  the  obstructions  and  burdens  which  a  system  of  discrim- 
inating and  countervailing  duties  necessarily  produces. 

The  selection  and  preparation  of  the  Florida  archives  for 
the  purpose  of  being  delivered  over  to  the  United  States, 
in  conformity  with  the  royal  order  as  mentioned  in  my  last 


Fifth  Annual  Message  289 

annual  message,  though  in  progress,  has  not  yet  been  com- 
pleted. This  delay  has  been  produced  partly  by  causes  which 
were  unavoidable,  particularly  the  prevalence  of  the  cholera 
at  Havana;  but  measures  have  been  taken  which  it  is  be- 
lieved will  expedite  the  delivery  of  those  important  records. 

Congress  were  informed  at  the  opening  of  the  last  session 
that  "  owing,  as  was  alleged,  to  embarrassments  in  the 
finances  of  Portugal,  consequent  upon  the  civil  war  in  which 
that  nation  was  engaged,"  payment  had  been  made  of  only 
one  installment  of  the  amount  which  the  Portuguese  Gov- 
ernment had  stipulated  to  pay  for  indemnifying  our  citizens 
for  property  illegally  captured  in  the  blockade  of  Terceira. 
Since  that  time  a  postponement  for  two  years,  with  interest, 
of  the  two  remaining  installments  was  requested  by  the 
Portuguese  Government,  and  as  a  consideration  it  offered 
to  stipulate  that  rice  of  the  United  States  should  be  admitted 
into  Portugal  at  the  same  duties  as  Brazilian  rice.  Being 
satisfied  that  no  better  arrangement  could  be  made,  my  con- 
sent w^as  given,  and  a  royal  order  of  the  King  of  Portugal 
was  accordingly  issued  on  the  4th  of  February  last  for  the 
reduction  of  the  duty  on  rice  of  the  United  States.  It  would 
give  me  great  pleasure  if  in  speaking  of  that  country,  in 
whose  prosperity  the  United  States  are  so  much  interested, 
and  with  whom  a  long-subsisting,  extensive,  and  mutually 
advantageous  commercial  intercourse  has  strengthened  the 
relations  of  friendship,  I  could  announce  to  you  the  restora- 
tion of  its  internal  tranquillity. 

Subsequently  to  the  commencement  of  the  last  session  of 
Congress  the  final  installment  payable  by  Denmark  under 
the  convention  of  the  28th  day  of  March,  1830,  was  re- 
ceived. The  commissioners  for  examining  the  claims  have 
since  terminated  their  labors,  and  their  awards  have  been 
paid  at  the  Treasury  as  they  have  been  called  for.  The 
justice  rendered  to  our  citizens  by  that  Government  is  thus 
completed,  and  a  pledge  is  thereby  afforded  for  the  main- 
tenance of  that  friendly  intercourse  becoming  the  relations 
that  the  two  nations  mutually  bear  to  each  other. 

It  is  satisfactory  to  inform  you  that  the  Danish  Govern- 


290  Andrew  Jackson 

ment  have  recently  issued  an  ordinance  by  which  the  com- 
merce with  the  island  of  St.  Croix  is  placed  on  a  more 
liberal  footing  than  heretofore.  This  change  can  not  fail  to 
prove  beneficial  to  the  trade  between  the  United  States  and 
that  colony,  and  the  advantages  likely  to  flow  from  it  may 
lead  to  greater  relaxations  in  the  colonial  systems  of  other 
nations. 

The  ratifications  of  the  convention  with  the  King  of  the 
Two  Sicilies  have  been  duly  exchanged,  and  the  commis- 
sioners appointed  for  examining  the  claims  under  it  have 
entered  upon  the  duties  assigned  to  them  by  law.  The 
friendship  that  the  interests  of  the  two  nations  require  of 
them  being  now  established,  it  may  be  hoped  that  each  will 
enjoy  the  benefits  which  a  liberal  commerce  should  yield  to 
both. 

A  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  between  the  United 
States  and  Belgium  was  concluded  during  the  last  winter 
and  received  the  sanction  of  the  Senate,  but  the  exchange 
of  the  ratifications  has  been  hitherto  delayed,  in  conse- 
quence, in  the  first  instance,  of  some  delay  in  the  reception 
of  the  treaty  at  Brussels,  and,  subsequently,  of  the  absence 
of  the  Belgian  minister  of  foreign  affairs  at  the  important 
conferences  in  which  his  Government  is  engaged  at  London. 
That  treaty  does  but  embody  those  enlarged  principles  of 
friendly  policy  which  it  is  sincerely  hoped  will  always  regu- 
late the  conduct  of  the  two  nations  having  such  strong 
motives  to  maintain  amicable  relations  toward  each  other 
and  so  sincerely  desirous  to  cherish  them. 

With  all  the  other  European  powers  with  whom  the 
United  States  have  formed  diplomatic  relations  and  with  the 
Sublime  Porte  the  best  understanding  prevails.  From  all  I 
continue  to  receive  assurances  of  good  will  toward  the 
United  States — assurances  which  it  gives  me  no  less  pleas- 
ure to  reciprocate  than  to  receive.  With  all,  the  engage- 
ments which  have  been  entered  into  are  fulfilled  with  good 
faith  on  both  sides.  Measures  have  also  been  taken  to  en- 
large our  friendly  relations  and  extend  our  commercial  in- 
tercourse with  other  States.    The  system  we  have  pursued 


Fifth  Annual  Message  291 

of  aiming  at  no  exclusive  advantages,  of  dealing  with  all  on 
terms  of  fair  and  equal  reciprocity,  and  of  adhering  scrupu- 
lously to  all  our  engagements  is  well  calculated  to  give  suc- 
cess to  efforts  intended  to  be  mutually  beneficial. 

The  wars  of  which  the  southern  part  of  this  continent 
was  so  long  the  theater,  and  which  were  carried  on  either 
by  the  mother  country  against  the  States  which  had  for- 
merly been  her  colonies  or  by  the  States  against  each  other, 
having  terminated,  and  their  civil  dissensions  having  so  far 
subsided  as  with  few  exceptions  no  longer  to  disturb  the 
public  tranquillity,  it  is  earnestly  hoped  those  States  will  be 
able  to  employ  themselves  without  interruption  in  perfecting 
their  institutions,  cultivating  the  arts  of  peace,, and  promot- 
ing by  wise  councils  and  able  exertions  the  public  and  pri- 
vate prosperity  which  their  patriotic  struggles  so  well  entitle 
them  to  enjoy. 

With  those  States  our  relations  have  undergone  but  little 
change  during  the  present  year.  No  reunion  having  yet 
taken  place  between  the  States  which  composed  the  Repub- 
lic of  Colombia,  our  charge  d'affaires  at  Bogota  has  been 
accredited  to  the  Government  of  New  Grenada,  and  we 
have,  therefore,  no  diplomatic  relations  with  Venezuela  and 
Ecuador,  except  as  they  may  be  included  in  those  heretofore 
formed  with  the  Colombian  Republic. 

It  is  understood  that  representatives  from  the  three  States 
were  about  to  assemble  at  Bogota  to  confer  on  the  subject 
of  their  mutual  interests,  particularly  that  of  their  union, 
and  if  the  result  should  render  it  necessary,  measures  will 
be  taken  on  our  part  to  preserve  with  each  that  friendship 
and  those  liberal  commercial  connections  which  it  has  been 
the  constant  desire  of  the  United  States  to  cultivate  with 
their  sister  Republics  of  this  hemisphere.  Until  the  impor- 
tant question  of  reunion  shall  be  settled,  however,  the  differ- 
ent matters  which  have  been  under  discussion  between  the 
United  States  and  the  Republic  of  Colombia,  or  either  of 
the  States  which  composed  it,  are  not  likely  to  be  brought 
to  a  satisfactory  issue. 

In  consequence  of  the  illness  of  the  charge  d'affaires  ap- 


292  Andrew  Jackson 

pointed  to  Central  America  at  the  last  session  of  Congress, 
he  was  prevented  from  proceeding  on  his  mission  until  the 
month  of  October.  It  is  hoped,  however,  that  he  is  by  this 
time  at  his  post,  and  that  the  official  intercourse,  unfortu- 
nately so  long  interrupted,  has  been  thus  renewed  on  the 
part  of  the  two  nations  so  amicably  and  advantageously  con- 
nected by  engagements  founded  on  the  most  enlarged  prin- 
ciples of  commercial  reciprocity. 

It  is  gratifying  to  state  that  since  my  last  annual  message 
some  of  the  most  important  claims  of  our  fellow-citizens 
upon  the  Government  of  Brazil  have  been  satisfactorily  ad- 
justed, and  a  reliance  is  placed  on  the  friendly  dispositions 
manifested  by  it  that  justice  will  also  be  done  in  others.  No 
new  causes  of  complaint  have  arisen,  and  the  trade  between 
the  two  countries  flourishes  under  the  encouragement  se- 
cured to  it  by  the  liberal  provisions  of  the  treaty. 

It  is  cause  of  regret  that,  owing,  probably,  to  the  civil 
dissensions  which  have  occupied  the  attention  of  the  Mexi- 
can Government,  the  time  fixed  by  the  treaty  of  limits  with 
the  United  States  for  the  meeting  of  the  commissioners  to 
define  the  boundaries  between  the  two  nations  has  been  suf- 
fered to  expire  without  the  appointment  of  any  commis- 
sioners on  the  part  of  that  Government,  While  the  true 
boundary  remains  in  doubt  by  either  party  it  is  difficult  to 
give  effect  to  those  measures  which  are  necessary  to  the 
protection  and  quiet  of  our  numerous  citizens  residing  near 
that  frontier.  The  subject  is  one  of  great  solicitude  to  the 
United  States,  and  will  not  fail  to  receive  my  earnest  at- 
tention. 

The  treaty  concluded  with  Chili  and  approved  by  the 
Senate  at  its  last  session  was  also  ratified  by  the  Chilian 
Government,  but  with  certain  additional  and  explanatory 
articles  of  a  nature  to  have  required  it  to  be  again  submitted 
to  the  Senate,  The  time  limited  for  the  exchange  of  the 
ratifications,  however,  having  since  expired,  the  action  of 
both  Governments  on  the  treaty  will  again  become  neces- 
sary. 

The  negotiations  commenced  with  the  Argentine  Repub- 


Fifth   Annual   Message  293 

lie  relative  to  the  outrages  committed  on  our  vessels  en- 
gaged in  the  fisheries  at  the  Falkland  Islands  by  persons 
acting  under  the  color  of  its  authority,  as  well  as  the  other 
matters  in  controversy  between  the  two  Governments,  have 
been  suspended  by  the  departure  of  the  charge  d'affaires  of 
the  United  States  from  Buenos  Ayres.  It  is  understood, 
however,  that  a  minister  was  subsequently  appointed  by  that 
Government  to  renew  the  negotiation  in  the  United  States, 
but  though  daily  expected  he  has  not  yet  arrived  in  this 
country. 

With  Peru  no  treaty  has  yet  been  formed,  and  with  Bo- 
livia no  diplomatic  intercourse  has  yet  been  established.  It 
will  be  my  endeavor  to  encourage  those  sentiments  of  amity 
and  that  liberal  commerce  which  belong  to  the  relations  in 
which  all  the  independent  States  of  this  continent  stand  to- 
ward each  other. 

I  deem  it  proper  to  recommend  to  your  notice  the  revision 
of  our  consular  system.  This  has  become  an  important 
branch  of  the  public  service,  inasmuch  as  it  is  intimately 
connected  with  the  preservation  of  our  national  character 
abroad,  with  the  interest  of  our  citizens  in  foreign  coun- 
tries, w^ith  the  regulation  and  care  of  our  commerce,  and 
with  the  protection  of  our  seamen.  At  the  close  of  the  last 
session  of  Congress  I  communicated  a  report  from  the  Sec- 
retary of  State  upon  the  subject,  to  which  I  now  refer,  as 
containing  information  which  may  be  useful  in  any  inquiries 
that  Congress  may  see  fit  to  institute  with  a  view  to  a  salu- 
tary reform  of  the  system. 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  congratulate  you  upon  the 
prosperous  condition  of  the  finances  of  the  country,  as  will 
appear  from  the  report  which  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
will  in  due  time  lay  before  you.  The  receipts  into  the  Treas- 
ury during  the  present  year  will  amount  to  more  than  $32,- 
000,000.  The  revenue  derived  from  customs  "will,  it  is 
believed,  be  more  than  $28,000,000,  and  the  public  lands 
will  yield  about  $3,000,000.  The  expenditures  within  the 
year  for  all  objects,  including  $2,572,240.99  on  account  of 
the  public  debt,  will  not  amount  to  $25,000,000,  and  a  large 


294  Andrew  Jackson 

balance  will  remain  in  the  Treasury  after  satisfying  all  the 
appropriations  chargeable  on  the  revenue  for  the  present 
year. 

The  measures  taken  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  will 
probably  enable  him  to  pay  off  in  the  course  of  the  present 
year  the  residue  of  the  exchanged  4I  per  cent  stock,  redeem- 
able on  the  I  St  of  January  next.  It  has  therefore  been  in- 
cluded in  the  estimated  expenditures  of  this  year,  and  forms 
a  part  of  the  sum  above  stated  to  have  been  paid  on  account 
of  the  public  debt.  The  payment  of  this  stock  will  reduce 
the  whole  debt  of  the  United  States,  funded  and  unfunded, 
to  the  sum  of  $4,760,082.08,  and  as  provision  has  already 
been  made  for  the  4I  percents  above  mentioned,  and 
charged  in  the  expenses  of  the  present  year,  the  sum  last 
stated  is  all  that  now  remains  of  the  national  debt;  and  the 
revenue  of  the  coming  year,  together  with  the  balance  now 
in  the  Treasury,  will  be  sufficient  to  discharge  it,  after  meet- 
ing the  current  expenses  of  the  Government.  Under  the 
power  given  to  the  commissioners  of  the  sinking  fund,  it 
will,  I  have  no  doubt,  be  purchased  on  favorable  terms  with- 
in the  year. 

From  this  view  of  the  state  of  the  finances  and  the  public 
engagements  yet  to  be  fulfilled  you  will  perceive  that  if 
Providence  permits  me  to  meet  you  at  another  session  I 
shall  have  the  high  gratification  of  announcing  to  you  that 
the  national  debt  is  extinguished,  I  can  not  refrain  from 
expressing  the  pleasure  I  feel  at  the  near  approach  of  that 
desirable  event.  The  short  period  of  time  within  which  the 
public  debt  will  have  been  discharged  is  strong  evidence  of 
the  abundant  resources  of  the  country  and  of  the  prudence 
and  economy  with  which  the  Government  has  heretofore 
been  administered.  We  have  waged  two  wars  since  we  be- 
came a  nation,  with  one  of  the  most  powerful  kingdoms  in 
the  world,  both  of  them  undertaken  in  defense  of  our  dear- 
est rights,  both  successfully  prosecuted  and  honorably  ter- 
minated ;  and  many  of  those  who  partook  in  the  first  strug- 
gle as  well  as  in  the  second  will  have  lived  to  see  the  last 
item  of  the  debt  incurred  in  these  necessary  but  expensive 


Fifth  Annual  Message  295 

conflicts  faithfully  and  honestly  discharged.  And  we  shall 
have  the  proud  satisfaction  of  bequeathing  to  the  public 
servants  who  follow  us  in  the  administration  of  the  Govern- 
ment the  rare  blessing  of  a  revenue  sufficiently  abundant, 
raised  without  injustice  or  oppression  to  our  citizens,  and 
unencumbered  with  any  burdens  but  what  they  themselves 
shall  think  proper  to  impose  upon  it. 

The  flourishing  state  of  the  finances  ought  not,  however, 
to  encourage  us  to  indulge  in  a  lavish  expenditure  of  the 
public  treasure.  The  receipts  of  the  present  year  do  not  fur- 
nish the  test  by  which  we  are  to  estimate  the  income  of  the 
next.  The  changes  made  in  our  revenue  system  by  the  acts 
of  Congress  of  1832  and  1833,  and  more  especially  by  the 
former,  have  swelled  the  receipts  of  the  present  year  far 
beyond  the  amount  to  be  expected  in  future  years  upon  the 
reduced  tariff  of  duties.  The  shortened  credits  on  revenue 
bonds  and  the  cash  duties  on  woolens  which  were  introduced 
by  the  act  of  1832,  and  took  effect  on  the  4th  of  March  last, 
have  brought  large  sums  into  the  Treasury  in  1833,  which, 
according  to  the  credits  formerly  given,  would  not  have 
been  payable  until  1834,  and  would  have  formed  a  part  of 
the  income  of  that  year.  These  causes  would  of  themselves 
produce  a  great  diminution  of  the  receipts  in  the  year  1834 
as  compared  with  the  present  one,  and  they  will  be  still  more 
diminished  by  the  reduced  rates  of  duties  which  take  place 
on  the  I  St  of  January  next  on  some  of  the  most  important 
and  productive  articles.  Upon  the  best  estimates  that  can 
be  made  the  receipts  of  the  next  year,  with  the  aid  of  the 
unappropriated  amount  now  in  the  Treasury,  will  not  be 
much  more  than  sufficient  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  year 
and  pay  the  small  remnant  of  the  national  debt  which  yet 
remains  unsatisfied.  I  can  not,  therefore,  recommend  to 
you  any  alteration  in  the  present  tariff  of  duties.  The  rate 
as  now  fixed  by  law  on  the  various  articles  was  adopted  at 
the  last  session  of  Congress,  as  a  matter  of  compromise, 
with  unusual  unanimity,  and  unless  it  is  found  to  produce 
more  than  the  necessities  of  the  Government  call  for  there 
would  seem  to  be  no  reason  at  this  time  to  justify  a  change. 


296  Andrew  Jackson 

But  while  I  forbear  to  recommend  any  further  reduction 
of  the  duties  beyond  that  already  provided  for  by  the  exist- 
ing laws,  I  must  earnestly  and  respectfully  press  upon  Con- 
gress the  importance  of  abstaining  from  all  appropriations 
which  are  not  absolutely  required  for  the  public  interest  and 
authorized  by  the  powers  clearly  delegated  to  the  United 
States.  We  are  beginning  a  new  era  in  our  Government. 
The  national  debt,  which  has  so  long  been  a  burden  on  the 
Treasury,  will  be  finally  discharged  in  the  course  of  the 
ensuing  year.  No  more  money  will  afterwards  be  needed 
than  what  may  be  necessary  to  meet  the  ordinary  expenses 
of  the  Government.  Now,  then,  is  the  proper  moment  to  fix 
our  system  of  expenditure  on  firm  and  durable  principles, 
and  I  can  not  too  strongly  urge  the  necessity  of  a  rigid 
economy  and  an  inflexible  determination  not  to  enlarge  the 
income  beyond  the  real  necessities  of  the  Government  and 
not  to  increase  the  wants  of  the  Government  by  unnecessary 
and  profuse  expenditures.  If  a  contrary  course  should  be 
pursued,  it  may  happen  that  the  revenue  of  1834  will  fall 
short  of  the  demands  upon  it,  and  after  reducing  the  tariff 
in  order  to  lighten  the  burdens  of  the  people,  and  providing 
for  a  still  further  reduction  to  take  effect  hereafter,  it  would 
be  much  to  be  deplored  if  at  the  end  of  another  year  we 
should  find  ourselves  obliged  to  retrace  our  steps  and  im- 
pose additional  taxes  to  meet  unnecessary  expenditures. 

It  is  my  duty  on  this  occasion  to  call  your  attention  to 
the  destruction  of  the  public  building  occupied  by  the  Treas- 
ury Department,  which  happened  since  the  last  adjourn- 
ment of  Congress.  A  thorough  inquiry  into  the  causes  of 
this  loss  was  directed  and  made  at  the  time,  the  result  of 
which  will  be  duly  communicated  to  you.  I  take  pleasure, 
however,  in  stating  here  that  by  the  laudable  exertions  of 
the  officers  of  the  Department  and  many  of  the  citizens  of 
the  District  but  few  papers  were  lost,  and  none  that  will 
materially  affect  the  public  interest. 

The  public  convenience  requires  that  another  building 
should  be  erected  as  soon  as  practicable,  and  in  providing 
for  it  it  will  be  advisable  to  enlarge  in  some  manner  the 


Fifth   Annual  Message  297 

accommodations  for  the  public  officers  of  the  several  De- 
partments, and  to  authorize  the  erection  of  suitable  deposi- 
tories for  the  safe-keeping  of  the  public  documents  and 
records. 

Since  the  last  adjournment  of  Congress  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  has  directed  the  money  of  the  United  States 
to  be  deposited  in  certain  State  banks  designated  by  him, 
and  he  will  immediately  lay  before  you  his  reasons  for  this 
direction.  I  concur  with  him  entirely  in  the  view  he  has 
taken  of  the  subject,  and  some  months  before  the  removal 
I  urged  upon  the  Department  the  propriety  of  taking  that 
step.  The  near  approach  of  the  day  on  which  the  charter 
will  expire,  as  well  as  the  conduct  of  the  bank,  appeared  to 
me  to  call  for  this  measure  upon  the  high  considerations  of 
public  interest  and  public  duty.  The  extent  of  its  miscon- 
duct, however,  although  known  to  be  great,  was  not  at  that 
time  fully  developed  by  proof.  It  was  not  until  late  in  the 
month  of  August  that  I  received  from  the  Government  di- 
rectors an  official  report  establishing  beyond  question  that 
this  great  and  powerful  institution  had  been  actively  en- 
gaged in  attempting  to  influence  the  elections  of  the  pub- 
lic officers  by  means  of  its  money,  and  that,  in  violation  of 
the  express  provisions  of  its  charter,  it  had  by  a  formal 
resolution  placed  its  funds  at  the  disposition  of  its  presi- 
dent to  be  employed  in  sustaining  the  political  power  of  the 
bank.  A  copy  of  this  resolution  is  contained  in  the  report 
of  the  Government  directors  before  referred  to,  and  how- 
ever the  object  may  be  disguised  by  cautious  language,  no 
one  can  doubt  that  this  money  was  in  truth  intended  for 
electioneering  purposes,  and  the  particular  uses  to  which  it 
was  proved  to  have  been  applied  abundantly  show  .that  it 
was  so  understood.  Not  only  was  the  evidence  complete  as 
to  the  past  application  of  the  money  and  power  of  the  bank 
to  electioneering  purposes,  but  that  the  resolution  of  the 
board  of  directors  authorized  the  same  course  to  be  pur- 
sued in  future. 

It  being  thus  established  by  unquestionable  proof  that  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  was  converted  into  a  permanent 


298  Andrew  Jackson 

electioneering  engine,  it  appeared  to  me  that  the  path  of 
duty  which  the  executive  department  of  the  Government 
ought  to  pursue  was  not  doubtful.  As  by  the  terms  of  the 
bank  charter  no  officer  but  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
could  remove  the  deposits,  it  seemed  to  me  that  this  author- 
ity ought  to  be  at  once  exerted  to  deprive  that  great  cor- 
poration of  the  support  and  countenance  of  the  Govern- 
ment in  such  an  use  of  its  funds  and  such  an  exertion  of 
its  power.  In  this  point  of  the  case  the  question  is  distinctly 
presented  whether  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  to 
govern  through  representatives  chosen  by  their  unbiased 
suffrages  or  whether  the  money  and  power  of  a  great  cor- 
poration are  to  be  secretly  exerted  to  influence  their  judg- 
ment and  control  their  decisions.  It  must  now  be  deter- 
mined whether  the  bank  is  to  have  its  candidates  for  all 
offices  in  the  country,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  or 
whether  candidates  on  both  sides  of  political  questions  shall 
be  brought  forward  as  heretofore  and  supported  by  the 
usual  means. 

At  this  time  the  efforts  of  the  bank  to  control  public 
opinion,  through  the  distresses  of  some  and  the  fears  of 
others,  are  equally  apparent,  and,  if  possible,  more  objec- 
tionable. By  a  curtailment  of  its  accommodations  more 
rapid  than  any  emergency  requires,  and  even  while  it  re- 
tains specie  to  an  almost  unprecedented  amount  in  its  vaults, 
it  is  attempting  to  produce  great  embarrassment  in  one 
portion  of  the  community,  while  through  presses  known  to 
have  been  sustained  by  its  money  it  attempts  by  unfounded 
alarms  to  create  a  panic  in  all. 

These  are  the  means  by  which  it  seems  to  expect  that  it 
can  force  a  restoration  of  the  deposits,  and  as  a  necessary 
consequence  extort  from  Congress  a  renewal  of  its  char- 
ter. I  am  happy  to  know  that  through  the  good  sense  of 
our  people  the  effort  to  get  up  a  panic  has  hitherto  failed, 
and  that  through  the  increased  accommodations  which  the 
State  banks  have  been  enabled  to  afford,  no  public  distress 
has  followed  the  exertions  of  the  bank,  and  it  can  not  be 
doubted  that  the  exercise  of  its  power  and  the  expenditure 


Fifth  Annual  Message  299 

of  its  money,  as  well  as  its  efforts  to  spread  groundless 
alarm,  will  be  met  and  rebuked  as  they  deserve.  In  my 
own  sphere  of  duty  I  should  feel  myself  called  on  by  the 
facts  disclosed  to  order  a  scire  facias  against  the  bank,  with 
a  view  to  put  an  end  to  the  chartered  rights  it  has  so  pal- 
pably violated,  were  it  not  that  the  charter  itself  will  ex- 
pire as  soon  as  a  decision  would  probably  be  obtained  from 
the  court  of  last  resort. 

I  called  the  attention  of  Congress  to  this  subject  in  my 
last  annual  message,  and  informed  them  that  such  measures 
as  were  within  the  reach  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
had  been  taken  to  enable  him  to  judge  whether  the  public 
deposits  in  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  were  entirely  safe ; 
but  that  as  his  single  powers  might  be  inadequate  to  the  ob- 
ject, I  recommended  the  subject  to  Congress  as  worthy  of 
their  serious  investigation,  declaring  it  as  my  opinion  that 
an  inquiry  into  the  transactions  of  that  institution,  embrac- 
ing the  branches  as  well  as  the  principal  bank,  was  called  for 
by  the  credit  which  was  given  throughout  the  country  to 
many  serious  charges  impeaching  their  character,  and  which, 
if  true,  might  justly  excite  the  apprehension  that  they  were 
no  longer  a  safe  depository  for  the  public  money.  The  ex- 
tent to  which  the  examination  thus  recommended  was  gone 
into  is  spread  upon  your  journals,  and  is  too  well  known  to 
require  to  be  stated.  Such  as  was  made  resulted  in  a  report 
from  a  majority  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means 
touching  certain  specified  points  only,  concluding  with  a  res- 
olution that  the  Government  deposits  might  safely  be  con- 
tinued in  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  This  resolution 
was  adopted  at  the  close  of  the  session  by  the  vote  of  a 
majority  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

Although  I  may  not  always  be  able  to  concur  in  the  views 
of  the  public  interest  or  the  duties  of  its  agents  which  may 
be  taken  by  the  other  departments  of  the  Government  or 
either  of  its  branches,  I  am,  notwithstanding,  wholly  inca- 
pable of  receiving  otherwise  than  with  the  most  sincere  re- 
spect all  opinions  or  suggestions  proceeding  from  such  a 
source,  and  in  respect  to  none  am  I  more  inclined  to  do  so 


300  Andrew  Jackson 

than  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  But  it  will  be  seen 
from  the  brief  views  at  this  time  taken  of  the  subject 
by  myself,  as  well  as  the  more  ample  ones  presented  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  that  the  change  in  the  de- 
posits which  has  been  ordered  has  been  deemed  to  be  called 
for  by  considerations  which  are  not  affected  by  the  pro- 
ceedings referred  to,  and  which,  if  correctly  view^ed  by 
that  Department,  rendered  its  act  a  matter  of  imperious 
duty. 

Coming  as  you  do,  for  the  most  part,  immediately  from 
the  people  and  the  States  by  election,  and  possessing  the 
fullest  opportunity  to  know  their  sentiments,  the  present 
Congress  will  be  sincerely  solicitous  to  carry  into  full  and 
fair  effect  the  will  of  their  constituents  in  regard  to  this  in- 
stitution. It  wnll  be  for  those  in  whose  behalf  we  all  act  to 
decide  whether  the  executive  department  of  the  Govern- 
ment, in  the  steps  which  it  has  taken  on  this  subject,  has 
been  found  in  the  line  of  its  duty. 

The  accompanying  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  with 
the  documents  annexed  to  it,  exhibits  the  operations  of  the 
War  Department  for  the  past  year  and  the  condition  of 
the  various  subjects  intrusted  to  its  administration. 

It  will  be  seen  from  them  that  the  Army  maintains  the 
character  it  has  heretofore  acquired  for  efficiency  and  mili- 
tary knowledge.  Nothing  has  occurred  since  your  last  ses- 
sion to  require  its  services  beyond  the  ordinary  routine  of 
duties  which  upon  the  seaboard  and  the  inland  frontier  de- 
volve upon  it  in  a  time  of  peace.  The  system  so  wisely 
adopted  and  so  long  pursued  of  constructing  fortifications 
at  exposed  points  and  of  preparing  and  collecting  the  sup- 
plies necessary  for  the  military  defense  of  the  country,  and 
thus  providently  furnishing  in  peace  the  means  of  defense 
in  war,  has  been  continued  with  the  usual  results.  I  recom- 
mend to  your  consideration  the  various  subjects  suggested 
in  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War.  Their  adoption 
would  promote  the  public  service  and  meliorate  the  condi- 
tion of  the  Army. 

Our  relations  with  the  various  Indian  tribes  have  been 


Fifth   Annual   Message  301 

undisturbed  since  the  termination  of  the  difficulties  growing 
out  of  the  hostile  aggressions  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians. 
Several  treaties  have  been  formed  for  the  relinquishment  of 
territory  to  the  United  States  and  for  the  migration  of  the 
occupants  of  the  region  assigned  for  their  residence  west  of 
the  Mississippi.  Should  these  treaties  be  ratified  by  the 
Senate,  provision  will  have  been  made  for  the  removal  of 
almost  all  the  tribes  now  remaining  east  of  that  river  and 
for  the  termination  of  many  difficult  and  embarrassing 
questions  arising  out  of  their  anomalous  political  condition. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  those  portions  of  two  of  the  Southern 
tribes,  which  in  that  event  will  present  the  only  remain- 
ing difficulties,  will  realize  the  necessity  of  emigration,  and 
will  speedily  resort  to  it.  My  original  convictions  upon  this 
subject  have  been  confirmed  by  the  course  of  events  for  sev- 
eral years,  and  experience  is  every  day  adding  to  their 
strength.  That  those  tribes  can  not  exist  surrounded  by 
our  settlements  and  in  continual  contact  with  our  citizens  is 
certain.  They  have  neither  the  intelligence,  the  industry, 
the  moral  habits,  nor  the  desire  of  improvement  which  are 
essential  to  any  favorable  change  in  their  condition.  Es- 
tablished in  the  midst  of  another  and  a  superior  race,  and 
without  appreciating  the  causes  of  their  inferiority  or  seek- 
ing to  control  them,  they  must  necessarily  yield  to  the  force 
of  circumstances  and  ere  long  disappear.  Such  has  been 
their  fate  heretofore,  and  if  it  is  to  be  averted — and  it  is — 
it  can  only  be  done  by  a  general  removal  beyond  our  bound- 
ary and  by  the  reorganization  of  their  political  system  upon 
principles  adapted  to  the  new  relations  in  which  they  will 
be  placed.  The  experiment  which  has  been  recently  made 
has  so  far  proved  successful.  The  emigrants  generally  are 
represented  to  be  prosperous  and  contented,  the  country  suit- 
able to  their  wants  and  habits,  and  the  essential  articles  of 
subsistence  easily  procured.  When  the  report  of  the  com- 
missioners now  engaged  in  investigating  the  condition  and 
prospects  of  these  Indians  and  in  devising  a  plan  for  their 
intercourse  and  government  is  received,  I  trust  ample  means 
of  information  will  be  in  possession  of  the  Government  for 


3^2  Andrew  Jackson 

adjusting  all  the  unsettled  questions  connected  with  this  in- 
teresting subject. 

The  operations  of  the  Navy  during  the  year  and  its  pres- 
ent condition  are  fully  exhibited  in  the  annual  report  from 
the  Navy  Department. 

Suggestions  are  made  by  the  Secretary  of  various  im- 
provements, which  deserve  careful  consideration,  and  most 
of  which,  if  adopted,  bid  fair  to  promote  the  efficiency  of 
this  important  branch  of  the  public  service.  Among  these 
are  the  new  organization  of  the  Navy  Board,  the  revision  of 
the  pay  to  officers,  and  a  change  in  the  period  of  time  or  in 
the  manner  of  making  the  annual  appropriations,  to  which 
I  beg  leave  to  call  your  particular  attention. 

The  views  which  are  presented  on  almost  every  portion 
of  our  naval  concerns,  and  especially  on  the  amount  of  force 
and  the  number  of  officers,  and  the  general  course  of  policy 
appropriate  in  the  present  state  of  our  country  for  securing 
the  great  and  useful  purposes  of  naval  protection  in  peace 
and  due  preparation  for  the  contingencies  of  war,  meet  with 
my  entire  approbation. 

It  will  be  perceived  from  the  report  referred  to  that  the 
fiscal  concerns  of  the  establishment  are  in  an  excellent  con- 
dition, and  it  is  hoped  that  Congress  may  feel  disposed  to 
make  promptly  every  suitable  provision  desired  either  for 
preserving  or  improving  the  system. 

The  general  Post-Office  Department  has  continued,  upon 
the  strength  of  its  own  resources,  to  facilitate  the  means  of 
communication  between  the  various  portions  of  the  Union 
with  increased  activity.  The  method,  however,  in  which 
the  accounts  of  the  transportation  of  the  mail  have  always 
been  kept  appears  to  have  presented  an  imperfect  view  of  its 
expenses.  It  has  recently  been  discovered  that  from  the 
earliest  records  of  the  Department  the  annual  statements 
have  been  calculated  to  exhibit  an  amount  considerably 
short  of  the  actual  expense  incurred  for  that  service.  These 
illusory  statements,  together  with  the  expense  of  carrying 
into  effect  the  law  of  the  last  session  of  Congress  establish- 
ing new  mail  routes,  and  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  head 


Fifth   Annual  Message  303 

of  the  Department  to  gratify  the  wishes  of  the  pubhc  in 
the  extension  of  mail  facihties,  have  induced  him  to  incur 
responsibihties  for  their  improvement  beyond  what  the  cur- 
rent resources  of  the  Department  would  sustain.  As  soon 
as  he  had  discovered  the  imperfection  of  the  method  he 
caused  an  investigation  to  be  made  of  its  results  and  applied 
the  proper  remedy  to  correct  the  evil.  It  became  necessary 
for  him  to  withdraw  some  of  the  improvements  which  he 
had  made  to  bring  the  expenses  of  the  Department  within 
its  own  resources.  These  expenses  were  incurred  for  the 
public  good,  and  the  public  have  enjoyed  their  benefit.  They 
are  now  but  partially  suspended,  and  that  where  they  may 
be  discontinued  with  the  least  inconvenience  to  the  country. 

The  progressive  increase  in  the  income  from  postages  has 
equaled  the  highest  expectations,  and  it  affords  demonstra- 
tive evidence  of  the  growing  importance  and  great  utility  of 
this  Department.  The  details  are  exhibited  in  the  accom- 
panying report  of  the  Postmaster-General. 

The  many  distressing  accidents  which  have  of  late  oc- 
curred in  that  portion  of  our  navigation  carried  on  by  the 
use  of  steam  power  deserve  the  immediate  and  unremitting 
attention  of  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  country.  The 
fact  that  the  number  of  those  fatal  disasters  is  constantly 
increasing,  notwithstanding  the  great  improvements  which 
are  everywhere  made  in  the  machinery  employed  and  in  the 
rapid  advances  which  have  been  made  in  that  branch  of  sci- 
ence, shows  very  clearly  that  they  are  in  a  great  degree  the 
result  of  criminal  negligence  on  the  part  of  those  by  whom 
the  vessels  are  navigated  and  to  whose  care  and  attention 
the  lives  and  property  of  our  citizens  are  so  extensively  in- 
trusted. 

That  these  evils  may  be  greatly  lessened,  if  not  substan- 
tially removed,  by  means  of  precautionary  and  penal  legis- 
lation seems  to  be  highly  probable.  So  far,  therefore,  as 
the  subject  can  be  regarded  as  within  the  constitutional  pur- 
view of  Congress  I  earnestly  recommend  it  to  your  prompt 
and  serious  consideration. 

I  would  also  call  your  attention  to  the  views  I  have  here- 


3^4  Andrew  Jackson 

tofore  expressed  of  the  propriety  of  amending  the  Consti- 
tution in  relation  to  the  mode  of  electing  the  President  and 
the  Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  Regarding  it  as 
all  important  to  the  future  quiet  and  harmony  of  the  people 
that  every  intermediate  agency  in  the  election  of  these  offi- 
cers should  be  removed  and  that  their  eligibility  should  be 
limited  to  one  term  of  either  four  or  six  years,  I  can  not 
too  earnestly  invite  your  consideration  of  the  subject. 

Trusting  that  your  deliberations  on  all  the  topics  of  gen- 
eral interest  to  which  I  have  adverted,  and  such  others  as 
your  more  extensive  knowledge  of  the  wants  of  our  beloved 
country  may  suggest,  may  be  crowned  with  success,  I  tender 
you  in  conclusion  the  cooperation  which  it  may  be  in  my 
power  to  afford  them. 


Veto  Message — Public  Lands.* 

(December  4,  1833.) 

To  the  Senate  of  the  United  States:  At  the  close  of  the 
last  session  of  Congress  I  received  from  that  body  a  bill  en- 
titled "  An  act  to  appropriate  for  a  limited  time  the  proceeds 
of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  of  the  United  States  and  for 
granting  lands  to  certain  States."  The  brief  period  then 
remaining  before  the  rising  of  Congress  and  the  extreme 
pressure  of  official  duties  unavoidable  on  such  occasions  did 
not  leave  me  sufficient  time  for  that  full  consideration  of 
the  subject  which  v^as  due  to  its  great  importance.  Subse- 
quent consideration  and  reflection  have,  however,  confirmed 
the  objections  to  the  bill  which  presented  themselves  to  my 
mind  upon  its  first  perusal,  and  have  satisfied  me  that  it 
ought  not  to  become  a  law.  I  felt  myself,  therefore,  con- 
strained to  withhold  from  it  my  approval,  and  now  return 
it  to  the  Senate,  in  which  it  originated,  with  the  reasons  on 
which  my  dissent  is  founded. 

I  am  fully  sensible  of  the  importance,  as  it  respects  both 
the  harmony  and  union  of  the  States,  of  making,  as  soon  as 
circumstances  will  allow  of  it,  a  proper  and  final  disposition 
of  the  whole  subject  of  the  public  lands,  and  any  measure 
for  that  object  providing  for  the  reimbursement  to  the 
United  States  of  those  expenses  with  which  they  are  justly 
chargeable  that  may  be  consistent  with  my  views  of  the 
Constitution,  sound  policy,  and  the  rights  of  the  respective 
States  will  readily  receive  my  cooperation.  This  bill,  how- 
ever, is  not  of  that  character.  The  arrangement  it  contem- 
plates is  not  permanent,  but  limited  to  five  years  only,  and 
in  its  terms  appears  to  anticipate  alterations  within  that 

*  A  pocket  veto.  The  message  can  be  best  understood  when  read 
in  connection  with  the  history  of  the  pubhc  lands.      (See  Bibhography.) 

30s 


3°^  Andrew  Jackson 

time,  at  the  discretion  of  Congress ;  and  it  furnishes  no  ade- 
quate security  against  those  continued  agitations  of  the  sub- 
ject which  it  should  be  the  principal  object  of  any  measure 
for  the  disposition  of  the  public  lands  to  avert. 

Neither  the  merits  of  the  bill  under  consideration  nor  the 
validity  of  the  objections  which  I  have  felt  it  to  be  my  duty 
to  make  to  its  passage  can  be  correctly  appreciated  without 
a  full  understanding  of  the  manner  in  which  the  public 
lands  upon  which  it  is  intended  to  operate  were  acquired 
and  the  conditions  upon  which  they  are  now  held  by  the 
United  States.  I  will  therefore  precede  the  statement  of 
those  objections  by  a  brief  but  distinct  exposition  of  these 
points. 

The  waste  lands  within  the  United  States  constituted  one 
of  the  early  obstacles  to  the  organization  of  any  government 
for  the  protection  of  their  common  interests.  In  October, 
1777,  while  Congress  were  framing  the  Articles  of  Confed- 
eration, a  proposition  was  made  to  amend  them  to  the  fol- 
lowing effect,  viz. : 

That  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled  shall  have 
the  sole  and  exclusive  right  and  power  to  ascertain  and  fix 
the  western  boundary  of  such  States  as  claim  to  the  Missis- 
sippi or  South  Sea,  and  lay  out  the  land  beyond  the  bound- 
ary so  ascertained  into  separate  and  independent  States  from 
time  to  time  as  the  numbers  and  circumstances  of  the  people 
thereof  may  require. 

It  was,  however,  rejected,  Maryland  only  voting  for  it, 
and  so  difficult  did  the  subject  appear  that  the  patriots  of 
that  body  agreed  to  waive  it  in  the  Articles  of  Confedera- 
tion and  leave  it  for  future  settlement. 

On  the  submission  of  the  Articles  to  the  several  State  leg- 
islatures for  ratification  the  most  formidable  objection  was 
found  to  be  in  this  subject  of  the  waste  lands.  Maryland, 
Rhode  Island,  and  New  Jersey  instructed  their  delegates  in 
Congress  to  move  amendments  to  them  providing  that  the 
waste  or  Crown  lands  should  be  considered  the  common 


Veto  Message — Public   Lands      3^7 

property  of  the  United  States,  but  they  were  rejected.  All 
the  States  except  Maryland  acceded  to  the  Articles,  not- 
withstanding some  of  them  did  so  with  the  reservation  that 
their  claim  to  those  lands  as  common  property  was  not 
thereby  abandoned. 

On  the  sole  ground  that  no  declaration  to  that  effect  was 
contained  in  the  Articles,  Maryland  withheld  her  assent,  and 
in  May,  1779,  embodied  her  objections  in  the  form  of  in- 
structions to  her  delegates,  which  were  entered  upon  the 
Journals  of  Congress.  The  following  extracts  are  from 
that  document,  viz. : 

Is  it  possible  that  those  States  who  are  ambitiously  grasp- 
ing at  territories  to  which  in  our  judgment  they  have  not 
the  least  shadow  of  exclusive  right  will  use  with  greater 
moderation  the  increase  of  wealth  and  power  derived  from 
those  territories  when  acquired  than  what  they  have  dis- 
played in  their  endeavors  to  acquire  them  ?  *  *  * 

We  are  convinced  policy  and  justice  require  that  a  coun- 
try unsettled  at  the  commencement  of  this  war,  claimed  by 
the  British  Crown  and  ceded  to  it  by  the  treaty  of  Paris,  if 
wrested  from  the  common  enemy  by  the  blood  and  treasure 
of  the  thirteen  States,  should  be  considered  as  a  common 
property,  subject  to  be  parceled  out  by  Congress  into  free, 
convenient,  and  independent  governments,  in  such  manner 
and  at  such  times  as  the  wisdom  of  that  assembly  shall  here- 
after direct.  *  *  * 

Virginia  proceeded  to  open  a  land  office  for  the  sale  of 
her  Western  lands,  which  produced  such  excitement  as  to 
induce  Congress,  in  October,  1779,  to  interpose  and  ear- 
nestly recommend  to  "  the  said  State  and  all  States  simi- 
larly circumstanced  to  forbear  settling  or  issuing  warrants 
for  such  unappropriated  lands,  or  granting  the  same,  during 
the  continuance  of  the  present  war." 

In  March,  1780,  the  legislature  of  New  York  passed  an 
act  tendering  a  cession  to  the  United  States  of  the  claims 
of  that  State  to  the  Western  territory,  preceded  by  a  pre- 
amble to  the  following  effect,  viz. : 


3o8  Andrew  Jackson 

Whereas  nothing  under  Divine  Providence  can  more  ef- 
fectually contribute  to  the  tranquillity  and  safety  of  the 
United  States  of  America  than  a  federal  alliance  on  such 
liberal  principles  as  will  give  satisfaction  to  its  respective 
members;  and  whereas  the  Articles  of  Confederation  and 
Perpetual  Union  recommended  by  the  honorable  Congress 
of  the  United  States  of  America  have  not  proved  acceptable 
to  all  the  States,  it  having  been  conceived  that  a  portion  of 
the  waste  and  uncultivated  territory  within  the  limits  or 
claims  of  certain  States  ought  to  be  appropriated  as  a  com- 
mon fund  for  the  expenses  of  the  war,  and  the  people  of  the 
State  of  New  York  being  on  all  occasions  disposed  to  mani- 
fest their  regard  for  their  sister  States  and  their  earnest 
desire  to  promote  the  general  interest  and  security,  and 
more  especially  to  accelerate  the  federal  alliance,  by  remov- 
ing as  far  as  it  depends  upon  them  the  before-mentioned 
impediment  to  its  final  accomplishment.  *  *  * 

This  act  of  New  York,  the  instructions  of  Maryland,  and 
a  remonstrance  of  Virginia  were  referred  to  a  committee  of 
Congress,  who  reported  a  preamble  and  resolutions  thereon, 
which  were  adopted  on  the  6th  September,  1780;  so  much 
of  which  as  is  necessary  to  elucidate  the  subject  is  to  the 
following  effect,  viz. : 

That  it  appears  advisable  to  press  upon  those  States  which 
can  remove  the  embarrassments  respecting  the  Western 
country  a  liberal  surrender  of  a  portion  of  their  territorial 
claims,  since  they  can  not  be  preserved  entire  without  en- 
dangering the  stability  of  the  General  Confederacy;  to  re- 
mind them  how  indispensably  necessary  it  is  to  establish  the 
Federal  Union  on  a  fixed  and  permanent  basis  and  on  prin- 
ciples acceptable  to  all  its  respective  members ;  how  essen- 
tial to  public  credit  and  confidence,  to  the  support  of  our 
Army,  to  the  vigor  of  our  counsels  and  success  of  our  meas- 
ures, to  our  tranquillity  at  home,  our  reputation  abroad,  to 
our  very  existence  as  a  free,  sovereign,  and  independent 
people;  that  they  are  fully  persuaded  the  wisdom  of  the 
several  legislatures  will  lead  them  to  a  full  and  impartial 
consideration  of  a  subject  so  interesting  to  the  United 
States,  and  so  necessary  to  the  happy  establishment  of  the 


Veto  Message — Public   Lands      309 

Federal  Union;  that  they  are  confirmed  in  these  expecta- 
tions by  a  review  of  the  before-mentioned  act  of  the  legis- 
lature of  New  York,  submitted  to  their  consideration.  ♦  ♦  ♦ 
Resolved,  That  copies  of  the  several  papers  referred  to 
the  committee  be  transmitted,  with  a  copy  of  the  report,  to 
the  legislatures  of  the  several  States,  and  that  it  be  earnestly 
recommended  to  those  States  who  have  claims  to  the  West- 
ern country  to  pass  such  laws  and  give  their  delegates  in 
Congress  such  powers  as  may  effectually  remove  the  only 
obstacle  to  a  final  ratification  of  the  Articles  of  Confedera- 
tion, and  that  the  legislature  of  Maryland  be  earnestly  re- 
quested to  authorize  their  delegates  in  Congress  to  sub- 
scribe the  said  Articles. 

Following  up  this  policy.  Congress  proceeded,  on  the  loth 
October,  1780,  to  pass  a  resolution  pledging  the  United 
States  to  the  several  States  as  to  the  manner  in  which  any 
lands  that  might  be  ceded  by  them  should  be  disposed  of, 
the  material  parts  of  which  are  as  follows,  viz. : 

Resolved,  That  the  unappropriated  lands  which  may  be 
ceded  or  relinquished  to  the  United  States  by  any  particu- 
lar State  pursuant  to  the  recommendation  of  Congress  of 
the  6th  day  of  September  last  shall  be  disposed  of  for  the 
common  benefit  of  the  United  States  and  be  settled  and 
formed  into  distinct  republican  States,  which  shall  become 
members  of  the  Federal  Union  and  have  the  same  rights  of 
sovereignty,  freedom,  and  independence  as  the  other  States ; 
*  *  *  that  the  said  lands  shall  be  granted  or  settled  at  such 
times  and  under  such  regulations  as  shall  hereafter  be  agreed 
on  by  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  or  nine  or 
more  of  them. 

In  February,  1781,  the  legislature  of  Maryland  passed  an 
act  authorizing  their  delegates  in  Congress  to  sign  the  Ar- 
ticles of  Confederation.  The  following  are  extracts  from 
the  preamble  and  body  of  the  act,  viz. : 

Whereas  it  hath  been  said  that  the  common  enemy  is  en- 
couraged by  this  State  not  acceding  to  the  Confederation  to 


3IO  Andrew  Jackson 

hope  that  the  union  of  the  sister  States  may  be  dissolved, 
and  therefore  prosecutes  the  war  in  expectation  of  an  event 
so  disgraceful  to  America,  and  our  friends  and  illustrious 
ally  are  impressed  with  an  idea  that  the  common  cause 
would  be  promoted  by  our  formally  acceding  to  the  Con- 
federation. *  *  * 


The  act  of  which  this  is  the  preamble  authorizes  the  del- 
egates of  that  State  to  sign  the  Articles,  and  proceeds  to 
declare  "  that  by  acceding  to  the  said  Confederation  this 
State  doth  not  relinquish,  nor  intend  to  relinquish,  any  right 
or  interest  she  hath  with  the  other  united  or  confederated 
States  to  the  back  country,"  etc. 

On  the  1st  of  March,  1781,  the  delegates  of  Maryland 
signed  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  and  the  Federal  Union 
under  that  compact  was  complete.  The  conflicting  claims 
to  the  Western  lands,  however,  were  not  disposed  of,  and 
continued  to  give  great  trouble  to  Congress.  Repeated  and 
urgent  calls  were  made  by  Congress  upon  the  States  claim- 
ing them  to  make  liberal  cessions  to  the  United  States,  and 
it  was  not  until  long  after  the  present  Constitution  was 
formed  that  the  grants  were  completed. 

The  deed  of  cession  from  New  York  was  executed  on 
the  1st  of  March,  1781,  the  day  the  Articles  of  Confedera- 
tion were  ratified,  and  it  was  accepted  by  Congress  on  the 
29th  October,  1782.  One  of  the  conditions  of  this  cession 
thus  tendered  and  accepted  was  that  the  lands  ceded  to  the 
United  States  "  shall  be  and  inure  for  the  use  and  benefit 
of  such  of  the  United  States  as  shall  become  members  of 
the  federal  alliance  of  the  said  States,  and  for  no  other  use 
or  purpose  whatsoever." 

The  Virginia  deed  of  cession  was  executed  and  accepted 
on  the  1st  day  of  March,  1784.  One  of  the  conditions  of 
this  cession  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

That  all  the  lands  within  the  territory  as  ceded  to  the 
United  States,  and  not  reserved  for  or  appropriated  to  any 
of  the  before-mentioned  purposes  or  disposed  of  in  bounties 


Veto  Message — Public  Lands      3 1 1 

to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  American  Army,  shall  be 
considered  as  a  common  fund  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  such 
of  the  United  States  as  have  become  or  shall  become  mem- 
bers of  the  confederation  or  federal  alliance  of  the  said 
States,  Virginia  inclusive,  according  to  their  usual  respective 
proportions  in  the  general  charge  and  expenditure,  and  shall 
be  faithfully  and  bona  fide  disposed  of  for  that  purpose,  and 
for  no  other  use  or  purpose  whatsoever. 

Within  the  years  1785,  1786,  and  1787  Massachusetts, 
Connecticut,  and  South  Carohna  ceded  their  claims  upon 
similar  conditions.  The  Federal  Government  went  into  op- 
eration under  the  existing  Constitution  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1789.  The  following  is  the  only  provision  of  that  Consti- 
tution which  has  a  direct  bearing  on  the  subject  of  the  pub- 
lic lands,  viz. : 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose  of  and  make 
all  needful  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory  or 
other  property  belonging  to  the  United  States,  and  nothing 
in  this  Constitution  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  prejudice 
any  claims  of  the  United  States  or  of  any  particular  State. 

Thus  the  Constitution  left  all  the  compacts  before  made 
in  full  force,  and  the  rights  of  all  parties  remained  the  same 
under  the  new  Government  as  they  were  under  the  Confed- 
eration. 

The  deed  of  cession  of  North  Carolina  was  executed  in 
December,  1789,  and  accepted  by  an  act  of  Congress  ap- 
proved April  2,  1790.  The  third  condition  of  this  cession 
was  in  the  following  words,  viz. : 

That  all  the  lands  intended  to  be  ceded  by  virtue  of  this 
act  to  the  United  States  of  America,  and  not  appropriated 
as  before  mentioned,  shall  be  considered  as  a  common  fund 
for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
North  Carolina  inclusive,  according  to  their  respective  and 
usual  proportions  of  the  general  charge  and  expenditure, 
and  shall  be  faithfully  disposed  of  for  that  purpose,  and  for 
no  other  use  or  purpose  ivhatever. 


3^2  Andrew  Jackson 

The  cession  of  Georgia  was  completed  on  the  i6th  June, 
1802,  and  in  its  leading  condition  is  precisely  like  that  of 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  This  grant  completed  the 
title  of  the  United  States  to  all  those  lands  generally  called 
public  lands  lying  within  the  original  limits  of  the  Confed- 
eracy. Those  which  have  been  acquired  by  the  purchase 
of  Louisiana  and  Florida,  having  been  paid  for  out  of 
the  common  treasure  of  the  United  States,  are  as  much 
the  property  of  the  General  Government,  to  be  disposed 
of  for  the  common  benefit,  as  those  ceded  by  the  several 
States. 

By  the  facts  here  collected  from  the  early  history  of  our 
Republic  it  appears  that  the  subject  of  the  public  lands  en- 
tered into  the  elements  of  its  institutions.  It  was  only  upon 
the  condition  that  those  lands  should  be  considered  as  com- 
mon property,  to  be  disposed  of  for  the  benefit  of  the  United 
States,  that  some  of  the  States  agreed  to  come  into  a  "  per- 
petual union."  The  States  claiming  those  lands  acceded  to 
those  views  and  transferred  their  claims  to  the  United 
States  upon  certain  specific  conditions,  and  on  those  condi- 
tions the  grants  were  accepted.  These  solemn  compacts, 
invited  by  Congress  in  a  resolution  declaring  the  purposes 
to  which  the  proceeds  of  these  lands  should  be  applied,  orig- 
inating before  the  Constitution  and  forming  the  basis  on 
which  it  was  made,  bound  the  United  States  to  a  particular 
course  of  policy  in  relation  to  them  by  ties  as  strong  as  can 
be  invented  to  secure  the  faith  of  nations. 

As  early  as  May,  1785,  Congress,  in  execution  of  these 
compacts,  passed  an  ordinance  providing  for  the  sales  of 
lands  in  the  Western  territory  and  directing  the  proceeds  to 
be  paid  into  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States.  With  the 
same  object  other  ordinances  were  adopted  prior  to  the  or- 
ganization of  the  present  Government. 

In  further  execution  of  these  compacts  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  under  the  present  Constitution,  as  early 
as  the  4th  of  August,  1790,  in  "An  act  making  pro- 
vision for  the  debt  of  the  United  States,"  enacted  as  fol- 
lows, viz. : 


Veto  Message — Public  Lands      313 

That  the  proceeds  of  sales  which  shall  be  made  of  lands 
in  the  Western  territory  now  belonging  or  that  may  here- 
after belong  to  the  United  States  shall  be  and  are  hereby 
appropriated  toward  sinking  or  discharging  the  debts  for 
the  payment  whereof  the  United  States  now  are  or  by  vir- 
tue of  this  act  may  be  holden,  and  shall  be  applied  solely  to 
that  use  until  the  said  debt  shall  be  fully  satisfied. 

To  secure  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States  forever 
the  power  to  execute  these  compacts  in  good  faith  the  Con- 
gress of  the  Confederation,  as  early  as  July  13,  1787,  in 
an  ordinance  for  the  government  of  the  territory  of  the 
United  States  northwest  of  the  river  Ohio,  prescribed  to 
the  people  inhabiting  the  Western  territory  certain  condi- 
tions which  were  declared  to  be  "  articles  of  compact  be- 
tween the  original  States  and  the  people  and  States  in  the 
said  territory,"  wdiich  should  "  forever  remain  unalterable, 
unless  by  common  consent."  In  one  of  these  articles  it  is 
declared  that — 

The  legislatures  of  those  districts,  or  new  States,  shall 
never  interfere  with  the  primary  disposal  of  the  soil  by  the 
United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  nor  with  any  regula- 
tions Congress  may  find  necessary  for  securing  the  title  in 
such  soil  to  the  bona  fide  purchasers. 

This  condition  has  been  exacted  from  the  people  of  all 
the  new  territories,  and  to  put  its  obligation  beyond  dispute 
each  new  State  carved  out  of  the  public  domain  has  been  re- 
quired explicitly  to  recognize  it  as  one  of  the  conditions  of 
admission  into  the  Union.  Some  of  them  have  declared 
through  their  conventions  in  separate  acts  that  their  people 
"  forever  disclaim  all  right  and  title  to  the  waste  and  unap- 
propriated lands  lying  within  this  State,  and  that  the  same 
shall  be  and  remain  at  the  sole  and  entire  disposition  of  the 
United  States." 

With  such  care  have  the  United  States  reserved  to  them- 
selves, in  all  their  acts  down  to  this  day,  in  legislating  for 
the  Territories  and  admitting  States  into  the  Union,  the  un- 
shackled power  to  execute  in  good  faith  the  compacts  of 


SH  Andrew  Jackson 

cession  made  with  the  original  States.     From  these  facts 
and  proceedings  it  plainly  and  certainly  results — 

1.  That  one  of  the  fundamental  principles  on  which  the 
Confederation  of  the  United  States  was  originally  based 
was  that  the  waste  lands  of  the  West  within  their  limits 
should  be  the  common  property  of  the  United  States. 

2.  That  those  lands  were  ceded  to  the  United  States  by 
the  States  which  claimed  them,  and  the  cessions  were  ac- 
cepted on  the  express  condition  that  they  should  be  disposed 
of  for  the  common  benefit  of  the  States,  according  to  their 
respective  proportions  in  the  general  charge  and  expendi- 
ture, and  for  no  other  purpose  whatsoever. 

3.  That  in  execution  of  these  solemn  compacts  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States  did,  under  the  Confederation, 
proceed  to  sell  these  lands  and  put  the  avails  into  the  com- 
mon Treasury,  and  under  the  new  Constitution  did  repeat- 
edly pledge  them  for  the  payment  of  the  public  debt  of  the 
United  States,  by  which  pledge  each  State  was  expected  to 
profit  in  proportion  to  the  general  charge  to  be  made  upon 
it  for  that  object. 

These  are  the  first  principles  of  this  whole  subject,  which 
I  think  can  not  be  contested  by  anyone  who  examines  the 
proceedings  of  the  Revolutionary  Congress,  the  cessions  of 
the  several  States,  and  the  acts  of  Congress  under  the  new 
Constitution.  Keeping  them  deeply  impressed  upon  the 
mind,  let  us  proceed  to  examine  how  far  the  objects  of 
the  cessions  have  been  completed,  and  see  whether  those 
compacts  are  not  still  obligatory  upon  the  United  States. 

The  debt  for  which  these  lands  were  pledged  by  Congress 
may  be  considered  as  paid,  and  they  are  consequently  re- 
leased from  that  lien.  But  that  pledge  formed  no  part  of 
the  compacts  with  the  States,  or  of  the  conditions  upon 
which  the  cessions  were  made.  It  was  a  contract  between 
new  parties — between  the  United  States  and  their  creditors. 
Upon  payment  of  the  debt  the  compacts  remain  in  full  force, 
and  the  obligation  of  the  United  States  to  dispose  of  the 
lands  for  the  common  benefit  is  neither  destroyed  nor  im- 
paired.   As  they  can  not  now  be  executed  in  that  mode,  the 


Veto  Message — Public   Lands      315 

only  legitimate  question  which  can  arise  is,  In  what  other 
way  are  these  lands  to  be  hereafter  disposed  of  for  the 
common  benefit  of  the  several  States,  "  according  to  their 
respective  and  usual  proportion  in  the  general  charge  and 
expenditure  "f  The  cessions  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
and  Georgia  in  express  terms,  and  all  the  rest  impliedly,  not 
only  provide  thus  specifically  the  proportion  according  to 
which  each  State  shall  profit  by  the  proceeds  of  the  land 
sales,  but  they  proceed  to  declare  that  they  shall  be  "  faith- 
fully and  bona  fide  disposed  of  for  that  purpose,  and  for  no 
other  use  or  purpose  whatsoever"  This  is  the  fundamental 
law  of  the  land  at  this  moment,  growing  out  of  compacts 
which  are  older  than  the  Constitution,  and  formed  the  cor- 
ner stone  on  which  the  Union  itself  was  erected. 

In  the  practice  of  the  Government  the  proceeds  of  the 
public  lands  have  not  been  set  apart  as  a  separate  fund  for 
the  payment  of  the  public  debt,  but  have  been  and  are  now 
paid  into  the  Treasury,  where  they  constitute  a  part  of  the 
aggregate  of  revenue  upon  which  the  Government  draws  as 
well  for  its  current  expenditures  as  for  payment  of  the  pub- 
lic debt.  In  this  manner  they  have  heretofore  and  do  now 
lessen  the  general  charge  upon  the  people  of  the  several 
States  in  the  exact  proportions  stipulated  in  the  compacts. 

These  general  charges  have  been  composed  not  only  of 
the  public  debt  and  the  usual  expenditures  attending  the 
civil  and  military  administrations  of  the  Government,  but 
of  the  amounts  paid  to  the  States  with  which  these  com- 
pacts were  formed,  the  amounts  paid  the  Indians  for  their 
right  of  possession,  the  amounts  paid  for  the  purchase  of 
Louisiana  and  Florida,  and  the  amounts  paid  surveyors, 
registers,  receivers,  clerks,  etc.,  employed  in  preparing  for 
market  and  selling  the  Western  domain. 

From  the  origin  of  the  land  system  down  to  the  30th 
September,  1832,  the  amount  expended  for  all  these  pur- 
poses has  been  about  $49,701,280,  and  the  amount  received 
from  the  sales,  deducting  payments  on  account  of  roads, 
etc.,  about  $38,386,624.  The  revenue  arising  from  the  pub- 
lic lands,  therefore,  has  not  been  sufficient  to  meet  the  gen- 


3^^  Andrew   Jackson 

eral  charges  on  the  Treasury  which  have  grown  out  of  them 
by  about  $11,314,656.  Yet  in  having  been  appHed  to  les- 
sen those  charges  the  conditions  of  the  compacts  have  been 
thus  far  fulfilled,  and  each  State  has  profited  according  to 
its  usual  proportion  in  the  general  charge  and  expenditure. 
The  annual  proceeds  of  land  sales  have  increased  and  the 
charges  have  diminished,  so  that  at  a  reduced  price  those 
lands  would  now  defray  all  current  charges  growing  out  of 
them  and  save  the  Treasury  from  further  advances  on  their 
account.  Their  original  intent  and  object,  therefore,  w^ould 
be  accomplished  as  fully  as  it  has  hitherto  been  by  reducing 
the  price  and  hereafter,  as  heretofore,  bringing  the  proceeds 
into  the  Treasury.  Indeed,  as  this  is  the  only  mode  in 
which  the  objects  of  the  original  compact  can  be  attained,  it 
may  be  considered  for  all  practical  purposes  that  it  is  one 
of  their  requirements. 

The  bill  before  me  begins  with  an  entire  subversion  of 
every  one  of  the  compacts  by  which  the  United  States  be- 
came possessed  of  their  Western  domain,  and  treats  the  sub- 
ject as  if  they  never  had  existence  and  as  if  the  United 
States  were  the  original  and  unconditional  owners  of  all  the 
public  lands.     The  first  section  directs — 

That  from  and  after  the  31st  day  of  December,  1832, 
there  shall  be  allowed  and  paid  to  each  of  the  States  of  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Alabama,  Missouri,  Mississippi,  and 
Louisiana,  over  and  above  what  each  of  the  said  States  is 
entitled  to  by  the  terms  of  the  compacts  entered  into  be- 
tween them  respectively  upon  their  admission  into  the  Union 
and  the  United  States,  the  sum  of  12^  per  cent  upon  the  net 
amount  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  which  subsequent  to 
the  day  aforesaid  shall  be  made  within  the  several  limits  of 
the  said  States,  which  said  sum  of  I2|  per  cent  shall  be  ap- 
plied to  some  object  or  objects  of  internal  improvement  or 
education  within  the  said  States  under  the  direction  of  their 
several  legislatures. 

This  I2|  per  cent  is  to  be  taken  out  of  the  net  proceeds  of 
the  land  sales  before  any  apportionment  is  made,  and  the 


Veto  Message — Public   Lands      317 

same  seven  States  which  are  first  to  receive  this  proportion 
are  also  to  receive  their  due  proportion  of  the  residue  ac- 
cording to  the  ratio  of  general  distribution. 

Now,  waiving  all  considerations  of  equity  or  policy  in 
regard  to  this  provision,  what  more  need  be  said  to  demon- 
strate its  objectionable  character  than  that  it  is  in  direct  and 
undisguised  violation  of  the  pledge  given  by  Congress  to 
the  States  before  a  single  cession  was  made,  that  it  abro- 
gates the  condition  upon  which  some  of  the  States  came 
into  the  Union,  and  that  it  sets  at  naught  the  terms  of  ces- 
sion spread  upon  the  face  of  every  grant  under  which  the 
title  to  that  portion  of  the  public  land  is  held  by  the  Federal 
Government  ? 

In  the  apportionment  of  the  remaining  seven-eighths  of 
the  proceeds  this  bill,  in  a  manner  equally  undisguised,  vio- 
lates the  conditions  upon  which  the  United  States  acquired 
title  to  the  ceded  lands.  Abandoning  altogether  the  ratio  of 
distribution  according  to  the  general  charge  and  expendi- 
tune  provided  by  the  compacts,  it  adopts  that  of  the  Federal 
representative  population.  Virginia  and  other  States  which 
ceded  their  lands  upon  the  express  condition  that  they  should 
receive  a  benefit  from  their  sales  in  proportion  to  their  part 
of  the  general  charge  are  by  the  bill  allowed  only  a  portion 
of  seven-eighths  of  their  proceeds,  and  that  not  in  the  pro- 
portion of  general  charge  and  expenditure,  but  in  the  ratio 
of  their  Federal  representative  population. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  did  not  delegate  to 
Congress  the  power  to  abrogate  these  compacts.  On  the 
contrary,  by  declaring  that  nothing  in  it  "  shall  be  so  con- 
strued as  to  prejudice  any  claims  of  the  United  States  or  of 
any  particular  State,"  it  virtually  provides  that  these  com- 
pacts and  the  rights  they  secure  shall  remain  untouched  by 
the  legislative  power,  which  shall  only  make  all  "  needful 
rules  and  regulations  "  for  carrying  them  into  effect.  All 
beyond  this  would  seem  to  be  an  assumption  of  undelegated 
power. 

These  ancient  compacts  are  invaluable  monuments  of  an 
age  of  virtue,  patriotism,  and  disinterestedness.     They  ex- 


3i8  Andrew  Jackson 

hibit  the  price  that  great  States  which  had  won  liberty  were 
wilHng  to  pay  for  that  union  without  which  they  plainly 
saw  it  could  not  be  preserved.  It  was  not  for  territory  or 
state  power  that  our  Revolutionary  fathers  took  up  arms; 
it  was  for  individual  liberty  and  the  right  of  self-govern- 
ment. The  expulsion  from  the  continent  of  British  armies 
and  British  power  was  to  them  a  barren  conquest  if  through 
the  collisions  of  the  redeemed  States  the  individual  rights 
for  which  they  fought  should  become  the  prey  of  petty 
military  tyrannies  established  at  home.  To  avert  such  con- 
sequences and  throw  around  liberty  the  shield  of  union, 
States  whose  relative  strength  at  the  time  gave  them  a 
preponderating  power  magnanimously  sacrificed  domains 
which  would  have  made  them  the  rivals  of  empires,  only 
stipulating  that  they  should  be  disposed  of  for  the  com- 
mon benefit  of  themselves  and  the  other  confederated  States. 
This  enlightened  policy  produced  union  and  has  secured 
liberty.  It  has  made  our  waste  lands  to  swarm  with  a  busy 
people  and  added  many  powerful  States  to  our  Confedera- 
tion. As  well  for  the  fruits  which  these  noble  works  of  our 
ancestors  have  produced  as  for  the  devotedness  in  which 
they  originated,  we  should  hesitate  before  we  demolish 
them. 

But  there  are  other  principles  asserted  in  the  bill  which 
would  have  impelled  me  to  withhold  my  signature  had  I 
not  seen  in  it  a  violation  of  the  compacts  by  which  the 
United  States  acquired  title  to  a  large  portion  of  the  pub- 
lic lands.  It  reasserts  the  principle  contained  in  the  bill 
authorizing  a  subscription  to  the  stock  of  the  Maysville, 
Washington,  Paris  and  Lexington  Turnpike  Road  Com- 
pany, from  which  I  was  compelled  to  withhold  my  consent 
for  reasons  contained  in  my  message  of  the  27th  May,  1830, 
to  the  House  of  Representatives. 

The  leading  principle  then  asserted  was  that  Congress 
possesses  no  constitutional  power  to  appropriate  any  part  of 
the  moneys  of  the  United  States  for  objects  of  a  local  char- 
acter within  the  States.  That  principle  I  can  not  be  mis- 
taken in  supposing  has  received  the  unequivocal  sanction  of 


Veto  Message — Public  Lands      319 

the  American  people,  and  all  subsequent  reflection  has  but 
satisfied  me  more  thoroughly  that  the  interests  of  our  peo- 
ple and  the  purity  of  our  Government,  if  not  its  existence, 
depend  on  its  observance.  The  public  lands  are  the  common 
property  of  the  United  States,  and  the  moneys  arising  from 
their  sales  are  a  part  of  the  public  revenue.  This  bill  pro- 
poses to  raise  from  and  appropriate  a  portion  of  this  public 
revenue  to  certain  States,  providing  expressly  that  it  shall 
"  be  applied  to  objects  of  internal  improvement  or  education 
zvithin  those  States,"  and  then  proceeds  to  appropriate  the 
balance  to  all  the  States,  v^ith  the  declaration  that  it  shall 
be  applied  "  to  such  purposes  as  the  legislatures  of  the  said 
respective  States  shall  deem  proper."  The  former  appropri- 
ation is  expressly  for  internal  improvements  or  education, 
without  qualification  as  to  the  kind  of  improvements,  and 
therefore  in  express  violation  of  the  principle  maintained 
in  my  objections  to  the  turnpike-road  bill  above  referred  to. 
The  latter  appropriation  is  more  broad,  and  gives  the  money 
to  be  applied  to  any  local  purpose  whatsoever.  It  will  not 
be  denied  that  under  the  provisions  of  the  bill  a  portion  of 
the  money  might  have  been  applied  to  making  the  very  road 
to  which  the  bill  of  1830  had  reference,  and  must  of  course 
come  within  the  scope  of  the  same  principle.  If  the  money 
of  the  United  States  can  not  be  applied  to  local  purposes 
through  its  ozvn  agents,  as  little  can  it  be  permitted  to  be  thus 
expended  through  the  agency  of  the  State  governments. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  with  all  the  reductions  in  our 
revenue  which  could  be  speedily  effected  by  Congress  with- 
out injury  to  the  substantial  interests  of  the  country  there 
might  be  for  some  years  to  come  a  surplus  of  moneys  in  the 
Treasury,  and  that  there  was  in  principle  no  objection  to  re- 
turning them  to  the  people  by  whom  they  were  paid.  As 
the  literal  accomplishment  of  such  an  object  is  obviously 
impracticable,  it  was  thought  admissible,  as  the  nearest  ap- 
proximation to  it,  to  hand  them  over  to  the  State  govern- 
ments, the  more  immediate  representatives  of  the  people, 
to  be  by  them  applied  to  the  benefit  of  those  to  whom  they 
properly  belonged.    The  principle  and  the  object  were  to  re- 


320  Andrew  Jackson 

turn  to  the  people  an  unavoidable  surplus  of  revenue  which 
might  have  been  paid  by  them  under  a  system  which  could 
not  at  once  be  abandoned,  but  even  this  recourse,  which  at 
one  time  seemed  to  be  almost  the  only  alternative  to  save 
the  General  Government  from  grasping  unlimited  power 
over  internal  improvements,  was  suggested  with  doubts  of 
its  constitutionality. 

But  this  bill  assumes  a  new  principle.  Its  object  is  not 
to  return  to  the  people  an  unavoidable  surplus  of  revenue 
paid  in  by  them,  but  to  create  a  surplus  for  distribution 
among  the  States.  It  seizes  the  entire  proceeds  of  one 
source  of  revenue  and  sets  them  apart  as  a  surplus,  making 
it  necessary  to  raise  the  moneys  for  supporting  the  Gov- 
ernment and  meeting  the  general  charges  from  other 
sources.  It  even  throws  the  entire  land  system  upon  the 
customs  for  its  support,  and  makes  the  public  lands  a  per- 
petual charge  upon  the  Treasury.  It  does  not  return  to  the 
people  moneys  accidentally  or  unavoidably  paid  by  them  to 
the  Government,  by  which  they  are  not  wanted,  but  com- 
pels the  people  to  pay  moneys  into  the  Treasury  for  the 
mere  purpose  of  creating  a  surplus  for  distribution  to  their 
State  governments.  If  this  principle  be  once  admitted,  it  is 
not  difficult  to  perceive  to  what  consequences  it  may  lead. 
Already  this  bill,  by  throwing  the  land  system  on  the  rev- 
enues from  imports  for  support,  virtually  distributes  among 
the  States  a  part  of  those  revenues.  The  proportion  may  be 
increased  from  time  to  time,  without  any  departure  from 
the  principle  now  asserted,  until  the  State  governments  shall 
derive  all  the  funds  necessary  for  their  support  from  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States,  or,  if  a  sufficient  supply 
should  be  obtained  by  some  States  and  not  by  others,  the 
deficient  States  might  complain;  and  to  put  an  end  to  all 
further  difficulty  Congress,  without  assuming  any  new 
principle,  need  go  but  one  step  further  and  put  the  salaries 
of  all  the  State  governors,  judges,  and  other  officers,  with 
a  sufficient  sum  for  other  expenses,  in  their  general  appro- 
priation bill. 

It  appears  to  me  that  a  more  direct  road  to  consolidation 


Veto  Message — Public  Lands      321 

can  not  be  devised.  Money  is  power,  and  in  that  Govern- 
ment which  pays  all  the  public  officers  of  the  States  will  all 
political  power  be  substantially  concentrated.  The  State 
governments,  if  governments  they  might  be  called,  would 
lose  all  their  independence  and  dignity ;  the  economy  which 
now  distinguishes  them  would  be  converted  into  a  profu- 
sion, limited  only  by  the  extent  of  the  supply.  Being  the 
dependents  of  the  General  Government,  and  looking  to  its 
Treasury  as  the  source  of  all  their  emoluments,  the  State 
officers,  under  whatever  names  they  might  pass  and  by 
whatever  forms  their  duties  might  be  prescribed,  would  in 
effect  be  the  mere  stipendiaries  and  instruments  of  the 
central  power. 

I  am  quite  sure  that  the  intelligent  people  of  our  several 
States  will  be  satisfied  on  a  little  reflection  that  it  is  neither 
wise  nor  safe  to  release  the  members  of  their  local  legisla- 
tures from  the  responsibility  of  levying  the  taxes  necessary 
to  support  their  State  governments  and  vest  it  in  Congress, 
over  most  of  whose  members  they  have  no  control.  They 
will  not  think  it  expedient  that  Congress  shall  be  the  tax- 
gatherer  and  paymaster  of  all  their  State  governments,  thus 
amalgamating  all  their  officers  into  one  mass  of  common 
interest  and  common  feeling.  It  is  too  obvious  that  such 
a  course  would  subvert  our  well-balanced  system  of  gov- 
ernment, and  ultimately  deprive  us  of  all  the  blessings  now 
derived  from  our  happy  Union. 

However  willing  I  might  be  that  any  unavoidable  sur- 
plus in  the  Treasury  should  be  returned  to  the  people 
through  their  State  governments,  I  can  not  assent  to  the 
principle  that  a  surplus  may  be  created  for  the  purpose  of 
distribution.  Viewing  this  bill  as  in  effect  assuming  the 
right  not  only  to  create  a  surplus  for  that  purpose,  but  to 
divide  the  contents  of  the  Treasury  among  the  States  with- 
out limitation,  from  whatever  source  they  may  be  derived, 
and  asserting  the  power  to  raise  and  appropriate  money  for 
the  support  of  every  State  government  and  institution,  as 
well  as  for  making  every  local  improvement,  however  triv- 
ial, I  can  not  give  it  my  assent. 


322  Andrew  Jackson 

It  is  difficult  to  perceive  what  advantages  would  accrue 
to  the  old  States  or  the  new  from  the  system  of  distribu- 
tion which  this  bill  proposes  if  it  were  otherwise  unobjec- 
tionable. It  requires  no  argument  to  prove  that  if  $3,000,000 
a  year,  or  any  other  sum,  shall  be  taken  out  of  the  Treasury 
by  this  bill  for  distribution  it  must  be  replaced  by  the  same 
sum  collected  from  the  people  through  some  other  means. 
The  old  States  will  receive  annually  a  sum  of  money  from 
the  Treasury,  but  they  will  pay  in  a  larger  sum,  together 
with  the  expenses  of  collection  and  distribution.  It  is  only 
their  proportion  of  seven-eighths  of  the  proceeds  of  land 
sales  which  they  are  to  receive,  but  they  must  pay  their  due 
proportion  of  the  whole.  Disguise  it  as  we  may,  the  bill 
proposes  to  them  a  dead  loss  in  the  ratio  of  eight  to  seven, 
in  addition  to  expenses  and  other  incidental  losses.  This 
assertion  is  not  the  less  true  because  it  may  not  at  first  be 
palpable.  Their  receipts  will  be  in  large  sums,  but  their 
payments  in  small  ones.  The  governments  of  the  States 
will  receive  seven  dollars,  for  which  the  people  of  the  States 
will  pay  eight.  The  large  sums  received  will  be  palpable 
to  the  senses;  the  small  sums  paid  it  requires  thought  to 
identify.  But  a  little  consideration  will  satisfy  the  people 
that  the  effect  is  the  same  as  if  seven  hundred  dollars  were 
given  them  from  the  public  Treasury,  for  which  they  were 
at  the  same  time  required  to  pay  in  taxes,  direct  or  indirect, 
eight  hundred. 

I  deceive  myself  greatly  if  the  new  States  would  find 
their  interests  promoted  by  such  a  system  as  this  bill  pro- 
poses. Their  true  policy  consists  in  the  rapid  settling  and 
improvement  of  the  waste  lands  within  their  limits.  As  a 
means  of  hastening  those  events,  they  have  long  been  look- 
ing to  a  reduction  in  the  price  of  public  lands  upon  the  final 
payment  of  the  national  debt.  The  effect  of  the  proposed 
system  would  be  to  prevent  that  reduction.  It  is  true  the 
bill  reserves  to  Congress  the  power  to  reduce  the  price,  but 
the  effect  of  its  details  as  now  arranged  would  probably  be 
forever  to  prevent  its  exercise. 

With  the  just  men  who  inhabit  the  new  States  it  is  a  suf- 


Veto  Message — Public  Lands      323 

ficient  reason  to  reject  this  system  that  it  is  in  violation  of 
the  fundamental  laws  of  the  Republic  and  its  Constitution. 
But  if  it  were  a  mere  question  of  interest  or  expediency 
they  would  still  reject  it.  They  would  not  sell  their  bright 
prospect  of  increasing  wealth  and  growing  power  at  such  a 
price.  They  would  not  place  a  sum  of  money  to  be  paid 
into  their  treasuries  in  competition  with  the  settlement  of 
their  waste  lands  and  the  increase  of  their  population.  They 
would  not  consider  a  small  or  a  large  annual  sum  to  be 
paid  to  their  governments  and  immediately  expended  as  an 
equivalent  for  that  enduring  wealth  which  is  composed  of 
flocks  and  herds  and  cultivated  farms.  No  temptation  will 
allure  them  from  that  object  of  abiding  interest,  the  settle- 
ment of  their  waste  lands,  and  the  increase  of  a  hardy  race 
of  free  citizens,  their  glory  in  peace  and  their  defense  in 
war. 

On  the  whole,  I  adhere  to  the  opinion,  expressed  by  me 
in  my  annual  message  of  1832,  that  it  is  our  true  policy 
that  the  public  lands  shall  cease  as  soon  as  practicable  to  be 
a  source  of  revenue,  except  for  the  payment  of  those  gen- 
eral charges  which  grow  out  of  the  acquisition  of  the  lands, 
their  survey  and  sale.  Although  these  expenses  have  not 
been  met  by  the  proceeds  of  sales  heretofore,  it  is  quite 
certain  they  will  be  hereafter,  even  after  a  considerable  re- 
duction in  the  price.  By  meeting  in  the  Treasury  so  much 
of  the  general  charge  as  arises  from  that  source  they  will 
hereafter,  as  they  have  been  heretofore,  be  disposed  of  for 
the  common  benefit  of  the  United  States,  according  to  the 
compacts  of  cession.  I  do  not  doubt  that  it  is  the  real  in- 
terest of  each  and  all  the  States  in  the  Union,  and  particu- 
larly of  the  new  States,  that  the  price  of  these  lands  shall 
be  reduced  and  graduated,  and  that  after  they  have  been  of- 
fered for  a  certain  number  of  years  the  refuse  remaining 
unsold  shall  be  abandoned  to  the  States  and  the  machinery 
of  our  land  system  entirely  withdrawn.  It  can  not  be  sup- 
posed the  compacts  intended  that  the  United  States  should 
retain  forever  a  title  to  lands  within  the  States  which  are  of 
no  value,  and  no  doubt  is  entertained  that  the  general  in- 


3^4  Andrew  Jackson 

terest  would  be  best  promoted  by  surrendering  sucH  lands 
to  the  States. 

This  plan  for  disposing  of  the  public  lands  impairs  no 
principle,  violates  no  compact,  and  deranges  no  system.  Al- 
ready has  the  price  of  those  lands  been  reduced  from  $2  per 
acre  to  $1.25,  and  upon  the  will  of  Congress  it  depends 
whether  there  shall  be  a  further  reduction.  While  the  bur- 
dens of  the  East  are  diminishing  by  the  reduction  of  the 
duties  upon  imports,  it  seems  but  equal  justice  that  the  chief 
burden  of  the  West  should  be  lightened  in  an  equal  degree 
at  least.  It  would  be  just  to  the  old  States  and  the  new, 
conciliate  every  interest,  disarm  the  subject  of  all  its  dan- 
gers, and  add  another  guaranty  to  the  perpetuity  of  our 
happy  Union. 

Sensible,  however,  of  the  difficulties  which  surround  this 
important  subject,  I  can  only  add  to  my  regrets  at  finding 
myself  again  compelled  to  disagree  with  the  legislative 
power  the  sincere  declaration  that  any  plan  which  shall 
promise  a  final  and  satisfactory  disposition  of  the  question 
and  be  compatible  with  the  Constitution  and  public  faith 
shall  have  my  hearty  concurrence. 

ANDREW  JACKSON. 


Protest  on  the  Expunging  Resolution.* 

(April  15,  1834.) 

To  the  Senate  of  the  United  States:  It  appears  by  the 
published  Journal  of  the  Senate  that  on  the  26th  of  De- 
cember last  a  resolution  was  offered  by  a  member  of  the 
Senate,  which  after  a  protracted  debate  was  on  the  28th  day 
of  March  last  modified  by  the  mover  and  passed  by  the 
votes  of  twenty-six  Senators  out  of  forty-six  who  were 
present  and  voted,  in  the  following  words,  viz. : 

Resolved,  That  the  President,  in  the  late  Executive  pro- 
ceedings in  relation  to  the  public  revenue,  has  assumed  upon 
himself  authority  and  power  not  conferred  by  the  Constitu- 
tion and  laws,  but  in  derogation  of  both. 

Having  had  the  honor,  through  the  voluntary  suffrages 
of  the  American  people,  to  fill  the  office  of  President  of  the 
United  States  during  the  period  which  may  be  presumed  to 
have  been  referred  to  in  this  resolution,  it  is  sufficiently  evi- 
dent that  the  censure  it  inflicts  was  intended  for  myself. 
Without  notice,  unheard  and  untried,  I  thus  find  myself 
charged  on  the  records  of  the  Senate,  and  in  a  form  hitherto 

*  The  Senate  refused  to  allow  this  Protest  to  be  entered  on  its  jour- 
nal. The  condemnation  of  the  President  for  his  proceedings  "in  re- 
lation to  the  public  revenue"  forms  one  of  the  exciting  incidents  of 
"the  reign  of  Andrew  Jackson."  In  that  contest  between  the  Senate 
and  the  Executive — and  it  fills  many  chapters  of  books  on  the  "Jack- 
son era" — the  Executive  triumphed.  The  issue  lay  deeper  than  the 
question  of  a  mere  executive  act ;  it  involved  the  functions  and  powers 
of  the  Executive  under  the  Constitution.  Benton,  who  was  Jackson's 
Colossus  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  has  related  in  detail,  in  his  Thirty 
Years'  View,  the  justification  of  the  President.  We  must  turn  to  the 
speeches  of  Webster  and  Clay  for  the  defense  of  th«  Senate. 

325 


326  Andrew  Jackson 

unknown  in  our  history,  with  the  high  crime  of  violating 
the  laws  and  Constitution  of  my  country. 

It  can  seldom  be  necessary  for  any  department  of  the 
Government,  when  assailed  in  conversation  or  debate  or  by 
the  strictures  of  the  press  or  of  popular  assemblies,  to  step 
out  of  its  ordinary  path  for  the  purpose  of  vindicating  its 
conduct  or  of  pointing  out  any  irregularity  or  injustice  in 
the  manner  of  the  attack;  but  when  the  Chief  Executive 
Magistrate  is,  by  one  of  the  most  important  branches  of  the 
Government  in  its  official  capacity,  in  a  public  manner,  and 
by  its  recorded  sentence,  but  without  precedent,  competent 
authority,  or  just  cause,  declared  guilty  of  a  breach  of  the 
laws  and  Constitution,  it  is  due  to  his  station,  to  public 
opinion,  and  to  a  proper  self-respect  that  the  officer  thus  de- 
nounced should  promptly  expose  the  wrong  which  has  been 
done. 

In  the  present  case,  moreover,  there  is  even  a  stronger 
necessity  for  such  a  vindication.  By  an  express  provision 
of  the  Constitution,  before  the  President  of  the  United 
States  can  enter  on  the  execution  of  his  office  he  is  required 
to  take  an  oath  or  affirmation  in  the  following  words: 

I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  will  faithfully  exe- 
cute the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States  and  will  to 
the  best  of  my  ability  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States. 

The  duty  of  defending  so  far  as  in  him  lies  the  integrity 
of  the  Constitution  would  indeed  have  resulted  from  the 
very  nature  of  his  office,  but  by  thus  expressing  it  in  the 
official  oath  or  affirmation,  which  in  this  respect  differs  from 
that  of  any  other  functionary,  the  founders  of  our  Republic 
have  attested  their  sense  of  its  importance  and  have  given 
to  it  a  peculiar  solemnity  and  force.  Bound  to  the  per- 
formance of  this  duty  by  the  oath  I  have  taken,  by  the 
strongest  obligations  of  gratitude  to  the  American  people, 
and  by  the  ties  which  unite  my  every  earthly  interest  wnth 
the  welfare  and  glory  of  my  country,  and  perfectly  con- 


The  Expunging  Resolution        3^7 

vinced  that  the  discussion  and  passage  of  the  above-men- 
tioned resolution  were  not  only  unauthorized  by  the  Con- 
stitution, but  in  many  respects  repugnant  to  its  provisions 
and  subversive  of  the  rights  secured  by  it  to  other  coordi- 
nate departments,  I  deem  it  an  imperative  duty  to  maintain 
the  supremacy  of  that  sacred  instrument  and  the  immuni- 
ties of  the  department  intrusted  to  my  care  by  all  means 
consistent  with  my  own  lawful  powers,  with  the  rights  of 
others,  and  with  the  genius  of  our  civil  institutions.  To 
this  end  I  have  caused  this  my  solemn  protest  against  the 
aforesaid  proceedings  to  be  placed  on  the  files  of  the  execu- 
tive department  and  to  be  transmitted  to  the  Senate. 

It  is  alike  due  to  the  subject,  the  Senate,  and  the  people 
that  the  views  which  I  have  taken  of  the  proceedings  re- 
ferred to,  and  which  compel  me  to  regard  them  in  the  light 
that  has  been  mentioned,  should  be  exhibited  at  length,  and 
with  the  freedom  and  firmness  which  are  required  by  an  oc- 
casion so  unprecedented  and  peculiar. 

Under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  the  powers 
and  functions  of  the  various  departments  of  the  Federal 
Government  and  their  responsibilities  for  violation  or  neg- 
lect of  duty  are  clearly  defined  or  result  by  necessary  in- 
ference. The  legislative  power  is,  subject  to  the  qualified 
negative  of  the  President,  vested  in  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  composed  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives; the  executive  power  is  vested  exclusively  in 
the  President,  except  that  in  the  conclusion  of  treaties  and 
in  certain  appointments  to  office  he  is  to  act  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Senate;  the  judicial  power  is  vested  ex- 
clusively in  the  Supreme  and  other  courts  of  the  United 
States,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment,  for  which  purpose 
the  accusatory  power  is  vested  in  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives and  that  of  hearing  and  determining  in  the  Senate. 
But  although  for  the  special  purposes  which  have  been 
mentioned  there  is  an  occasional  intermixture  of  the  powers 
of  the  different  departments,  yet  with  these  exceptions  each 
of  the  three  great  departments  is  independent  of  the  others 
in  its  sphere  of  action,  and  when  it  deviates  from  that  sphere 


328  Andrew  Jackson 

is  not  responsible  to  the  others  further  than  it  is  expressly 
made  so  in  the  Constitution.  In  every  other  respect  each  of 
them  is  the  coequal  of  the  other  two,  and  all  are  the  serv- 
ants of  the  American  people,  without  power  or  right  to  con- 
trol or  censure  each  other  in  the  service  of  their  common 
superior,  save  only  in  the  manner  and  to  the  degree  which 
that  superior  has  prescribed. 

The  responsibilities  of  the  President  are  numerous  and 
weighty.  He  is  liable  to  impeachment  for  high  crimes  and 
misdemeanors,  and  on  due  conviction  to  removal  from  office 
and  perpetual  disqualification;  and  notwithstanding  such 
conviction,  he  may  also  be  indicted  and  punished  according 
to  law.  He  is  also  liable  to  the  private  action  of  any  party 
who  may  have  been  injured  by  his  illegal  mandates  or  in- 
structions in  the  same  manner  and  to  the  same  extent  as  the 
humblest  functionary.  In  addition  to  the  responsibilities 
which  may  thus  be  enforced  by  impeachment,  criminal  pros- 
ecution, or  suit  at  law,  he  is  also  accountable  at  the  bar  of 
public  opinion  for  every  act  of  his  Administration.  Subject 
only  to  the  restraints  of  truth  and  justice,  the  free  people  of 
the  United  States  have  the  undoubted  right,  as  individuals 
or  collectively,  orally  or  in  writing,  at  such  times  and  in 
such  language  and  form  as  they  may  think  proper,  to  discuss 
his  official  conduct  and  to  express  and  promulgate  their 
opinions  concerning  it.  Indirectly  also  his  conduct  may 
come  under  review  in  either  branch  of  the  Legislature,  or 
in  the  Senate  when  acting  in  its  executive  capacity,  and  so 
far  as  the  executive  or  legislative  proceedings  of  these  bodies 
may  require  it,  it  may  be  exercised  by  them.  These  are  be- 
lieved to  be  the  proper  and  only  modes  in  which  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  is  to  be  held  accountable  for  his 
official  conduct. 

Tested  by  these  principles,  the  resolution  of  the  Senate 
is  wholly  unauthorized  by  the  Constitution,  and  in  deroga- 
tion of  its  entire  spirit.  It  assumes  that  a  single  branch  of 
the  legislative  department  may  for  the  purposes  of  a  public 
censure,  and  without  any  view  to  legislation  or  impeach- 
ment, take  up,  consider,  and  decide  upon  the  official  acts  of 


The   Expunging   Resolution        329 

the  Executive.  But  in  no  part  of  the  Constitution  is  the 
President  subjected  to  any  such  responsibility,  and  in  no 
part  of  that  instrument  is  any  such  power  conferred  on 
either  branch  of  the  Legislature. 

The  justice  of  these  conclusions  will  be  illustrated  and 
confirmed  by  a  brief  analysis  of  the  powers  of  the  Senate 
and  a  comparison  of  their  recent  proceedings  with  those 
powers. 

The  high  functions  assigned  by  the  Constitution  to  the 
Senate  are  in  their  nature  either  legislative,  executive,  or 
judicial.  It  is  only  in  the  exercise  of  its  judicial  powers, 
when  sitting  as  a  court  for  the  trial  of  impeachments,  that 
the  Senate  is  expressly  authorized  and  necessarily  required 
to  consider  and  decide  upon  the  conduct  of  the  President 
or  any  other  public  officer.  Indirectly,  however,  as  has  al- 
ready been  suggested,  it  may  frequently  be  called  on  to  per- 
form that  office.  Cases  may  occur  in  the  course  of  its 
legislative  or  executive  proceedings  in  which  it  may  be  in- 
dispensable to  the  proper  exercise  of  its  powers  that  it  should 
inquire  into  and  decide  upon  the  conduct  of  the  President  or 
other  public  officers,  and  in  every  such  case  its  constitutional 
right  to  do  so  is  cheerfully  conceded.  But  to  authorize  the 
Senate  to  enter  on  such  a  task  in  its  legislative  or  executive 
capacity  the  inquiry  must  actually  grow  out  of  and  tend  to 
some  legislative  or  executive  action,  and  the  decision,  when 
expressed,  must  take  the  form  of  some  appropriate  legisla- 
tive or  executive  act. 

The  resolution  in  question  was  introduced,  discussed,  and 
passed  not  as  a  joint  but  as  a  separate  resolution.  It  asserts 
no  legislative  power,  proposes  no  legislative  action,  and 
neither  possesses  the  form  nor  any  of  the  attributes  of  a 
legislative  measure.  It  does  not  appear  to  have  been  en- 
tertained or  passed  with  any  view  or  expectation  of  its 
issuing  in  a  law  or  joint  resolution,  or  in  the  repeal  of 
any  law  or  joint  resolution,  or  in  any  other  legislative 
action. 

Whilst  wanting  both  the  form  and  substance  of  a  legisla- 
tive measure,  it  is  equally  manifest  that  the  resolution  was 


3JO  Andrew  Jackson 

not  justified  by  any  of  the  executive  powers  conferred  on 
the  Senate.  These  powers  relate  exclusively  to  the  con- 
sideration of  treaties  and  nominations  to  office,  and  they  are 
exercised  in  secret  session  and  with  closed  doors.  This  res- 
olution does  not  apply  to  any  treaty  or  nomination,  and  was 
passed  in  a  public  session. 

Nor  does  this  proceeding  in  any  way  belong  to  that  class 
of  incidental  resolutions  which  relate  to  the  officers  of  the 
Senate,  to  their  Chamber  and  other  appurtenances,  or  to 
subjects  of  order  and  other  matters  of  the  like  nature,  in  all 
which  either  House  may  lawfully  proceed  without  any  co- 
operation with  the  other  or  with  the  President. 

On  the  contrary,  the  whole  phraseology  and  sense  of  the 
resolution  seem  to  be  judicial.  Its  essence,  true  character, 
and  only  practical  effect  are  to  be  found  in  the  conduct 
which  it  charges  upon  the  President  and  in  the  judgment 
which  it  pronounces  on  that  conduct.  The  resolution,  there- 
fore, though  discussed  and  adopted  by  the  Senate  in  its  leg- 
islative capacity,  is  in  its  office  and  in  all  its  characteristics 
essentially  judicial. 

That  the  Senate  possesses  a  high  judicial  power  and  that 
instances  may  occur  in  which  the  President  of  the  United 
States  will  be  amenable  to  it  is  undeniable;  but  under  the 
provisions  of  the  Constitution  it  would  seem  to  be  equally 
plain  that  neither  the  President  nor  any  other  officer  can  be 
rightfully  subjected  to  the  operation  of  the  judicial  power 
of  the  Senate  except  in  the  cases  and  under  the  forms  pre- 
scribed by  the  Constitution. 

The  Constitution  declares  that  "  the  President,  Vice- 
President,  and  all  civil  officers  of  the  United  States  shall  be 
removed  from  office  on  impeachment  for  and  conviction  of 
treason,  bribery,  or  other  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors;" 
that  the  House  of  Representatives  "  shall  have  the  sole 
power  of  impeachment ;"  that  the  Senate  "  shall  have  the 
sole  power  to  try  all  impeachments ;"  that  "  when  sitting  for 
that  purpose  they  shall  be  on  oath  or  affirmation;"  that 
"  when  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  tried  the 
Chief  Justice  shall  preside ;"  that  "  no  person  shall  be  con- 


The  Expunging  Resolution        33^ 

victed  without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the  mem- 
bers present,"  and  that  "  judgment  shall  not  extend  further 
than  to  removal  from  office  and  disqualification  to  hold  and 
enjoy  any  office  of  honor,  trust,  or  profit  under  the  United 
States." 

The  resolution  above  quoted  charges,  in  substance,  that  in 
certain  proceedings  relating  to  the  public  revenue  the  Pres- 
ident has  usurped  authority  and  power  not  conferred  upon 
him  by  the  Constitution  and  laws,  and  that  in  doing  so  he 
violated  both.  Any  such  act  constitutes  a  high  crime — one 
of  the  highest,  indeed,  which  the  President  can  commit — 
a  crime  which  justly  exposes  him  to  impeachment  by  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and,  upon  due  conviction,  to 
removal  from  office  and  to  the  complete  and  immutable 
disfranchisement  prescribed  by  the  Constitution.  The  reso- 
lution, then,  was  in  substance  an  impeachment  of  the  Pres- 
ident, and  in  its  passage  amounts  to  a  declaration  by  a 
majority  of  the  Senate  that  he  is  guilty  of  an  impeachable 
offense.  As  such  it  is  spread  upon  the  journals  of  the  Sen- 
ate, published  to  the  nation  and  to  the  world,  made  part  of 
our  enduring  archives,  and  incorporated  in  the  history  of 
the  age.  The  punishment  of  removal  from  office  and  future 
disqualification  does  not,  it  is  true,  follow  this  decision,  nor 
would  it  have  followed  the  like  decision  if  the  regular  forms 
of  proceeding  had  been  pursued,  because  the  requisite  num- 
ber did  not  concur  in  the  result.  But  the  moral  influence  of 
a  solemn  declaration  by  a  majority  of  the  Senate  that  the 
accused  is  guilty  of  the  offense  charged  upon  him  has  been 
as  effectually  secured  as  if  the  like  declaration  had  been 
made  upon  an  impeachment  expressed  in  the  same  terms. 
Indeed,  a  greater  practical  effect  has  been  gained,  because 
the  votes  given  for  the  resolution,  though  not  sufficient  to 
authorize  a  judgment  of  guilty  on  an  impeachment,  were 
numerous  enough  to  carry  that  resolution. 

That  the  resolution  does  not  expressly  allege  that  the  as- 
sumption of  power  and  authority  which  it  condemns  was 
intentional  and  corrupt  is  no  answer  to  the  preceding  view 
of  its  character  and  effect.     The  act  thus  condemned  nee- 


332  Andrew  Jackson 

essarily  implies  volition  and  design  in  the  individual  to 
whom  it  is  imputed,  and,  being  unlawful  in  its  character, 
the  legal  conclusion  is  that  it  was  prompted  by  improper 
motives  and  committed  with  an  unlawful  intent.  The 
charge  is  not  of  a  mistake  in  the  exercise  of  supposed  pow- 
ers, but  of  the  assumption  of  powers  not  conferred  by  the 
Constitution  and  laws,  but  in  derogation  of  both,  and  noth- 
ing is  suggested  to  excuse  or  palliate  the  turpitude  of  the 
act.  In  the  absence  of  any  such  excuse  or  palliation  there  is 
only  room  for  one  inference,  and  that  is  that  the  intent  was 
unlawful  and  corrupt.  Besides,  the  resolution  not  only  con- 
tains no  mitigating  suggestions,  but,  on  the  contrary,  it 
holds  up  the  act  complained  of  as  justly  obnoxious  to  cen- 
sure and  reprobation,  and  thus  as  distinctly  stamps  it  with 
impurity  of  motive  as  if  the  strongest  epithets  had  been 
used. 

The  President  of  the  United  States,  therefore,  has  been 
by  a  majority  of  his  constitutional  triers  accused  and  found 
guilty  of  an  impeachable  offense,  but  in  no  part  of  this 
proceeding  have  the  directions  of  the  Constitution  been  ob- 
served. 

The  impeachment,  instead  of  being  preferred  and  prose- 
cuted by  the  House  of  Representatives,  originated  in  the 
Senate,  and  was  prosecuted  without  the  aid  or  concurrence 
of  the  other  House.  The  oath  or  affirmation  prescribed  by 
the  Constitution  was  not  taken  by  the  Senators,  the  Chief 
Justice  did  not  preside,  no  notice  of  the  charge  was  given 
to  the  accused,  and  no  opportunity  afforded  him  to  respond 
to  the  accusation,  to  meet  his  accusers  face  to  face,  to  cross- 
examine  the  witnesses,  to  procure  counteracting  testimony, 
or  to  be  heard  in  his  defense.  The  safeguards  and  formali- 
ties which  the  Constitution  has  connected  with  the  power 
of  impeachment  were  doubtless  supposed  by  the  framers  of 
that  instrument  to  be  essential  to  the  protection  of  the  pub- 
lic servant,  to  the  attainment  of  justice,  and  to  the  order, 
impartiality,  and  dignity  of  the  procedure.  These  safe- 
guards and  formalities  were  not  only  practically  disregarded 
in  the  commencement  and  conduct  of  these  proceedings,  but 


The  Expunging  Resolution        333 

in  their  result  I  find  myself  convicted  by  less  than  two-thirds 
of  the  members  present  of  an  impeachable  offense. 

In  vain  may  it  be  alleged  in  defense  of  this  proceeding 
that  the  form  of  the  resolution  is  not  that  of  an  impeach- 
ment or  of  a  judgment  thereupon,  that  the  punishment  pre- 
scribed in  the  Constitution  does  not  follow  its  adoption,  or 
that  in  this  case  no  impeachment  is  to  be  expected  from  the 
House  of  Representatives.  It  is  because  it  did  not  assume 
the  form  of  an  impeachment  that  it  is  the  more  palpably  re- 
pugnant to  the  Constitution,  for  it  is  through  that  form 
only  that  the  President  is  judicially  responsible  to  the  Sen- 
ate; and  though  neither  removal  from  office  nor  future  dis- 
qualification ensues,  yet  it  is  not  to  be  presumed  that  the 
framers  of  the  Constitution  considered  either  or  both  of 
those  results  as  constituting  the  whole  of  the  punishment 
they  prescribed.  The  judgment  of  guilty  by  the  highest  tri- 
bunal in  the  Union,  the  stigma  it  would  inflict  on  the  offen- 
der, his  family,  and  fame,  and  the  perpetual  record  on  the 
Journal,  handing  down  to  future  generations  the  story  of 
his  disgrace,  were  doubtless  regarded  by  them  as  the  bitter- 
est portions,  if  not  the  very  essence,  of  that  punishment. 
So  far,  therefore,  as  some  of  its  most  material  parts  are 
concerned,  the  passage,  recording,  and  promulgation  of  the 
resolution  are  an  attempt  to  bring  them  on  the  President  in 
a  manner  unauthorized  by  the  Constitution.  To  shield  him 
and  other  officers  who  are  liable  to  impeachment  from  con- 
sequences so  momentous,  except  when  really  merited  by 
official  delinquencies,  the  Constitution  has  most  carefully 
guarded  the  whole  process  of  impeachment.  A  majority  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  must  think  the  officer  guilty 
before  he  can  be  charged.  Two-thirds  of  the  Senate  must 
pronounce  him  guilty  or  he  is  deemed  to  be  innocent.  Forty- 
six  Senators  appear  by  the  Journal  to  have  been  present 
when  the  vote  on  the  resolution  was  taken.  If  after  all  the 
solemnities  of  an  impeachment  thirty  of  those  Senators  had 
voted  that  the  President  was  guilty,  yet  would  he  have  been 
acquitted;  but  by  the  mode  of  proceeding  adopted  in  the 
present  case  a  lasting  record  of  conviction  has  been  entered 


334  Andrew  Jackson 

up  by  the  votes  of  twenty-six  Senators  without  an  impeach- 
ment or  trial,  whilst  the  Constitution  expressly  declares  that 
to  the  entry  of  such  a  judgment  an  accusation  by  the  House 
of  Representatives,  a  trial  by  the  Senate,  and  a  concurrence 
of  two-thirds  in  the  vote  of  guilty  shall  be  indispensable 
prerequisites. 

Whether  or  not  an  impeachment  was  to  be  expected  from 
the  House  of  Representatives  was  a  point  on  which  the  Sen- 
ate had  no  constitutional  right  to  speculate,  and  in  respect 
to  which,  even  had  it  possessed  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  its 
anticipations  would  have  furnished  no  just  ground  for  this 
procedure.  Admitting  that  there  was  reason  to  believe  that 
a  violation  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  had  been  actually 
committed  by  the  President,  still  it  was  the  duty  of  the  Sen- 
ate, as  his  sole  constitutional  judges,  to  wait  for  an  impeach- 
ment until  the  other  House  should  think  proper  to  prefer 
it.  The  members  of  the  Senate  could  have  no  right  to  in- 
fer that  no  impeachment  was  intended.  On  the  contrary, 
every  legal  and  rational  presumption  on  their  part  ought 
to  have  been  that  if  there  was  good  reason  to  believe  him 
guilty  of  an  impeachable  offense  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives would  perform  its  constitutional  duty  by  arraigning 
the  offender  before  the  justice  of  his  country.  The  contrary 
presumption  would  involve  an  implication  derogatory  to 
the  integrity  and  honor  of  the  representatives  of  the  people. 
But  suppose  the  suspicion  thus  implied  were  actually  en- 
tertained and  for  good  cause,  how  can  it  justify  the  assump- 
tion by  the  Senate  of  powers  not  conferred  by  the  Consti- 
tution ? 

It  is  only  necessary  to  look  at  the  condition  in  which  the 
Senate  and  the  President  have  been  placed  by  this  proceed- 
ing to  perceive  its  utter  incompatibility  with  the  provisions 
and  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution  and  with  the  plainest  dic- 
tates of  humanity  and  justice. 

If  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  of  opinion  that 
there  is  just  ground  for  the  censure  pronounced  upon  the 
President,  then  will  it  be  the  solemn  duty  of  that  House  to 
prefer  the  proper  accusation  and  to  cause  him  to  be  brought 


The   Expunging  Resolution        33 S 

to  trial  by  the  constitutional  tribunal.  But  in  what  condi- 
tion would  he  find  that  tribunal?  A  majority  of  its  mem- 
bers have  already  considered  the  case,  and  have  not  only 
formed  but  expressed  a  deliberate  judgment  upon  its  merits. 
It  is  the  policy  of  our  benign  systems  of  jurisprudence  to 
secure  in  all  criminal  proceedings,  and  even  in  the  most 
trivial  litigations,  a  fair,  unprejudiced,  and  impartial  trial, 
and  surely  it  can  not  be  less  important  that  such  a  trial 
should  be  secured  to  the  highest  officer  of  the  Government. 

The  Constitution  makes  the  House  of  Representatives  the 
exclusive  judges,  in  the  first  instance,  of  the  question 
whether  the  President  has  committed  an  impeachable  of- 
fense. A  majority  of  the  Senate,  whose  interference  with 
this  preliminary  question  has  for  the  best  of  all  reasons  been 
studiously  excluded,  anticipate  the  action  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  assume  not  only  the  function  which  be- 
longs exclusively  to  that  body,  but  convert  themselves  into 
accusers,  witnesses,  counsel,  and  judges,  and  prejudge  the 
whole  case,  thus  presenting  the  appalling  spectacle  in  a 
free  State  of  judges  going  through  a  labored  preparation 
for  an  impartial  hearing  and  decision  by  a  previous  ex  parte 
investigation  and  sentence  against  the  supposed  offender. 

There  is  no  more  settled  axiom  in  that  Government 
w^hence  we  derived  the  model  of  this  part  of  our  Constitu- 
tion than  that  "  the  lords  can  not  impeach  any  to  themselves, 
nor  join  in  the  accusation,  because  they  are  judges."  Inde- 
pendently of  the  general  reasons  on  which  this  rule  is 
founded,  its  propriety  and  importance  are  greatly  increased 
by  the  nature  of  the  impeaching  power.  The  power  of  ar- 
raigning the  high  officers  of  government  before  a  tribunal 
whose  sentence  may  expel  them  from  their  seats  and  brand 
them  as  infamous  is  eminently  a  popular  remedy — a  remedy 
designed  to  be  employed  for  the  protection  of  private  right 
and  public  liberty  against  the  abuses  of  injustice  and  the 
encroachments  of  arbitrary  power.  But  the  framers  of  the 
Constitution  were  also  undoubtedly  aware  that  this  formi- 
dable instrument  had  been  and  might  be  abused,  and  tliat 
from  its  very  nature  an  impeachment  for  high  crimes  and 


33^  Andrew  Jackson 

misdemeanors,  whatever  might  be  its  result,  would  in  most 
cases  be  accompanied  by  so  much  of  dishonor  and  reproach, 
solicitude  and  suffering,  as  to  make  the  power  of  preferring 
it  one  of  the  highest  solemnity  and  importance.  It  was  due 
to  both  these  considerations  that  the  impeaching  power 
should  be  lodged  in  the  hands  of  those  who  from  the  mode 
of  their  election  and  the  tenure  of  their  offices  would  most 
accurately  express  the  popular  will  and  at  the  same  time  be 
most  directly  and  speedily  amenable  to  the  people.  The 
theory  of  these  wise  and  benignant  intentions  is  in  the  pres- 
ent case  effectually  defeated  by  the  proceedings  of  the  Sen- 
ate. The  members  of  that  body  represent  not  the  people, 
but  the  States ;  and  though  they  are  undoubtedly  responsible 
to  the  States,  yet  from  their  extended  term  of  service  the 
effect  of  that  responsibility  during  the  whole  period  of  that 
term  must  very  much  depend  upon  their  own  impressions  of 
its  obligatory  force.  When  a  body  thus  constituted  expresses 
beforehand  its  opinion  in  a  particular  case,  and  thus  indi- 
rectly invites  a  prosecution,  it  not  only  assumes  a  power 
intended  for  wise  reasons  to  be  confined  to  others,  but  it 
shields  the  latter  from  that  exclusive  and  personal  responsi- 
bility under  which  it  was  intended  to  be  exercised,  and  re- 
verses the  whole  scheme  of  this  part  of  the  Constitution. 

Such  would  be  some  of  the  objections  to  this  procedure, 
even  if  it  were  admitted  that  there  is  just  ground  for  im- 
puting to  the  President  the  offenses  charged  in  the  resolu- 
tion. But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the  House  of  Represent- 
atives shall  be  of  opinion  that  there  is  no  reason  for  charging 
them  upon  him,  and  shall  therefore  deem  it  improper  to 
prefer  an  impeachment,  then  will  the  violation  of  privilege 
as  it  respects  that  House,  of  justice  as  it  regards  the  Presi- 
dent, and  of  the  Constitution  as  it  relates  to  both  be  only 
the  more  conspicuous  and  impressive. 

The  constitutional  mode  of  procedure  on  an  impeachment 
has  not  only  been  wholly  disregarded,  but  some  of  the  first 
principles  of  natural  right  and  enlightened  jurisprudence 
have  been  violated  in  the  very  form  of  the  resolution.  It 
carefully  abstains  from  averring  in  which  of  "  the  late  pro- 


The   Expunging  Resolution        337 

ceedings  in  relation  to  the  public  revenue  the  President  has 
assumed  upon  himself  authority  and  power  not  conferred 
by  the  Constitution  and  laws."  It  carefully  abstains  from 
specifying  what  laws  or  what  parts  of  the  Constitution  have 
been  violated.  Why  was  not  the  certainty  of  the  offense 
— "  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation  " — set  out  in  the 
manner  required  in  the  Constitution  before  even  the  hum- 
blest individual,  for  the  smallest  crime,  can  be  exposed  to 
condemnation  ?  Such  a  specification  was  due  to  the  accused 
that  he  might  direct  his  defense  to  the  real  points  of  attack, 
to  the  people  that  they  might  clearly  understand  in  what 
particulars  their  institutions  had  been  violated,  and  to  the 
truth  and  certainty  of  our  public  annals.  As  the  record  now 
stands,  whilst  the  resolution  plainly  charges  upon  the  Presi- 
dent at  least  one  act  of  usurpation  in  "  the  late  Executive 
proceedings  in  relation  to  the  public  revenue,"  and  is  so 
framed  that  those  Senators  who  believed  that  one  such  act, 
and  only  one,  had  been  committed  could  assent  to  it,  its  lan- 
guage is  yet  broad  enough  to  include  several  such  acts,  and 
so  it  may  have  been  regarded  by  some  of  those  who  voted 
for  it.  But  though  the  accusation  is  thus  comprehensive  in 
the  censures  it  implies,  there  is  no  such  certainty  of  time, 
place,  or  circumstance  as  to  exhibit  the  particular  conclusion 
of  fact  or  law  which  induced  any  one  Senator  to  vote  for  it ; 
and  it  may  well  have  happened  that  whilst  one  Senator  be- 
lieved that  some  particular  act  embraced  in  the  resolution 
was  an  arbitrary  and  unconstitutional  assumption  of  power, 
others  of  the  majority  may  have  deemed  that  very  act  both 
constitutional  and  expedient,  or,  if  not  expedient,  yet  still 
within  the  pale  of  the  Constitution ;  and  thus  a  majority  of 
the  Senators  may  have  been  enabled  to  concur  in  a  vague 
and  undefined  accusation  that  the  President,  in  the  course  of 
"  the  late  Executive  proceedings  in  relation  to  the  public 
revenue,"  had  violated  the  Constitution  and  laws,  whilst  if 
a  separate  vote  had  been  taken  in  respect  to  each  particular 
act  included  within  the  general  terms  the  accusers  of  the 
President  might  on  any  such  vote  have  been  found  in  the 
minority. 


33^  Andrew  Jackson 

Still  further  to  exemplify  this  feature  of  the  proceeding, 
it  is  important  to  be  remarked  that  the  resolution  as  orig- 
inally offered  to  the  Senate  specified  with  adequate  precision 
certain  acts  of  the  President  which  it  denounced  as  a  viola- 
tion of  the  Constitution  and  laws,  and  that  it  was  not  until 
the  very  close  of  the  debate,  and  when  perhaps  it  was  ap- 
prehended that  a  majority  might  not  sustain  the  specific 
accusation  contained  in  it,  that  the  resolution  was  so  modi- 
fied as  to  assume  its  present  form.  A  more  striking  illustra- 
tion of  the  soundness  and  necessity  of  the  rules  which  forbid 
vague  and  indefinite  generalities  and  require  a  reasonable 
certainty  in  all  judicial  allegations,  and  a  more  glaring  in- 
stance of  the  violation  of  those  rules,  has  seldom  been  ex- 
hibited. 

In  this  view  of  the  resolution  it  must  certainly  be  regarded 
not  as  a  vindication  of  any  particular  provision  of  the  law 
or  the  Constitution,  but  simply  as  an  official  rebuke  or  con- 
demnatory sentence,  too  general  and  indefinite  to  be  easily 
repelled,  but  yet  sufficiently  precise  to  bring  into  discredit 
the  conduct  and  motives  of  the  Executive.  But  whatever  it 
may  have  been  intended  to  accomplish,  it  is  obvious  that  the 
vague,  general,  and  abstract  form  of  the  resolution  is  in 
perfect  keeping  with  those  other  departures  from  first  prin- 
ciples and  settled  improvements  in  jurisprudence  so  properly 
the  boast  of  free  countries  in  modern  times.  And  it  is  not 
too  much  to  say  of  the  whole  of  these  proceedings  that  if 
they  shall  be  approved  and  sustained  by  an  intelligent  peo- 
ple, then  will  that  great  contest  with  arbitrary  power  which 
had  established  in  statutes,  in  bills  of  rights,  in  sacred  char- 
ters, and  in  constitutions  of  government  the  right  of  every 
citizen  to  a  notice  before  trial,  to  a  hearing  before  convic- 
tion, and  to  an  impartial  tribunal  for  deciding  on  the  charge 
have  been  waged  in  vain. 

If  the  resolution  had  been  left  in  its  original  form  it  is 
not  to  be  presumed  that  it  could  ever  have  received  the  as- 
sent of  a  majority  of  the  Senate,  for  the  acts  therein  speci- 
fied as  violations  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  were  clearly 
within  the  limits  of  the  Executive  authority.    They  are  the 


The   Expunging  Resolution        339 

"  dismissing  the  late  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  because  he 
would  not,  contrary  to  his  sense  of  his  own  duty,  remove 
the  money  of  the  United  States  in  deposit  with  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States  and  its  branches  in  conformity  with  the 
President's  opinion,  and  appointing  his  successor  to  effect 
such  removal,  which  has  been  done."  But  as  no  other  speci- 
fication has  been  substituted,  and  as  these  were  the  "  Ex- 
ecutive proceedings  in  relation  to  the  public  revenue  "  prin- 
cipally referred  to  in  the  course  of  the  discussion,  they  will 
doubtless  be  generally  regarded  as  the  acts  intended  to  be 
denounced  as  *'  an  assumption  of  authority  and  power  not 
conferred  by  the  Constitution  or  laws,  but  in  derogation  of 
both."  It  is  therefore  due  to  the  occasion  that  a  condensed 
summary  of  the  views  of  the  Executive  in  respect  to  them 
should  be  here  exhibited. 

By  the  Constitution  "  the  executive  power  is  vested  in  a 
President  of  the  United  States."  Among  the  duties  im- 
posed upon  him,  and  which  he  is  sworn  to  perform,  is  that 
of  "  taking  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed."  Be- 
ing thus  made  responsible  for  the  entire  action  of  the  execu- 
tive department,  it  was  but  reasonable  that  the  power  of 
appointing,  overseeing,  and  controlling  those  who  execute 
the  laws — a  power  in  its  nature  executive — should  remain 
in  his  hands.  It  is  therefore  not  only  his  right,  but  the  Con- 
stitution makes  it  his  duty,  to  "  nominate  and,  by  and  w^ith 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  appoint "  all  "  officers 
of  the  United  States  whose  appointments  are  not  in  the  Con- 
stitution otherwise  provided  for,"  with  a  proviso  that  the 
appointment  of  inferior  officers  may  be  vested  in  the  Presi- 
dent alone,  in  the  courts  of  justice,  or  in  the  heads  of  De- 
partments. 

The  executive  power  vested  in  the  Senate  is  neither  that 
of  "  nominating  "  nor  "  appointing."  It  is  merely  a  check 
upon  the  Executive  power  of  appointment.  If  individuals 
are  proposed  for  appointment  by  the  President  by  them 
deemed  incompetent  or  unworthy,  they  may  withhold  their 
consent  and  the  appointment  can  not  be  made.  They  check 
the  action  of  the  Executive,  but  can  not  in  relation  to  those 


34°  Andrew  Jackson 

very  subjects  act  themselves  nor  direct  him.  Selections  are 
still  made  by  the  President,  and  the  negative  given  to  the 
Senate,  without  diminishing  his  responsibility,  furnishes  an 
additional  guaranty  to  the  country  that  the  subordinate  exec- 
utive as  v^'ell  as  the  judicial  offices  shall  be  filled  with  worthy 
and  competent  men. 

The  whole  executive  power  being  vested  in  the  President, 
who  is  responsible  for  its  exercise,  it  is  a  necessary  conse- 
quence that  he  should  have  a  right  to  employ  agents  of  his 
own  choice  to  aid  him  in  the  performance  of  his  duties,  and 
to  discharge  them  when  he  is  no  longer  willing  to  be  respon- 
sible for  their  acts.  In  strict  accordance  with  this  principle, 
the  power  of  removal,  which,  like  that  of  appointment,  is  an 
original  executive  power,  is  left  unchecked  by  the  Constitu- 
tion in  relation  to  all  executive  officers,  for  whose  conduct 
the  President  is  responsible,  while  it  is  taken  from  him  in 
relation  to  judicial  officers,  for  whose  acts  he  is  not  respon- 
sible. In  the  Government  from  which  many  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  our  system  are  derived  the  head  of  the 
executive  department  originally  had  power  to  appoint  and 
remove  at  will  all  officers,  executive  and  judicial.  It  was  to 
take  the  judges  out  of  this  general  power  of  removal,  and 
thus  make  them  independent  of  the  Executive,  that  the  ten- 
ure of  their  offices  was  changed  to  good  behavior.  Nor  is  it 
conceivable  why  they  are  placed  in  our  Constitution  upon  a 
tenure  different  from  that  of  all  other  officers  appointed  by 
the  Executive  unless  it  be  for  the  same  purpose. 

But  if  there  were  any  just  ground  for  doubt  on  the  face 
of  the  Constitution  whether  all  executive  officers  are  remov- 
able at  the  will  of  the  President,  it  is  obviated  by  the  cotem- 
poraneous  construction  of  the  instrument  and  the  uniform 
practice  under  it. 

The  power  of  removal  was  a  topic  of  solemn  debate  in  the 
Congress  of  1789  while  organizing  the  administrative  de- 
partments of  the  Government,  and  it  was  finally  decided 
that  the  President  derived  from  the  Constitution  the  power 
of  removal  so  far  as  it  regards  that  department  for  whose 
acts  he  is  responsible.     Although  the  debate  covered  the 


The  Expunging  Resolution        341 

whole  ground,  embracing  the  Treasury  as  well  as  all  the 
other  Executive  Departments,  it  arose  on  a  motion  to  strike 
out  of  the  bill  to  establish  a  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
since  called  the  Department  of  State,  a  clause  declaring  the 
Secretary  "  to  be  removable  from  office  by  the  President  of 
the  United  States."  After  that  motion  had  been  decided  in 
the  negative  it  was  perceived  that  these  words  did  not  con- 
vey the  sense  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  relation  to 
the  true  source  of  the  power  of  removal.  With  the  avowed 
object  of  preventing  any  future  inference  that  this  power 
was  exercised  by  the  President  in  virtue  of  a  grant  from 
Congress,  when  in  fact  that  body  considered  it  as  derived 
from  the  Constitution,  the  words  which  had  been  the  sub- 
ject of  debate  were  struck  out,  and  in  lieu  thereof  a  clause 
was  inserted  in  a  provision  concerning  the  chief  clerk  of  the 
Department,  which  declared  that  "  whenever  the  said  prin- 
cipal officer  shall  be  removed  from  office  by  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  or  in  any  other  case  of  vacancy,"  the 
chief  clerk  should  during  such  vacancy  have  charge  of  the  pa- 
pers of  the  office.  This  change  having  been  made  for  the 
express  purpose  of  declaring  the  sense  of  Congress  that  the 
President  derived  the  power  of  removal  from  the  Constitu- 
tion, the  act  as  it  passed  has  always  been  considered  as  a 
full  expression  of  the  sense  of  the  Legislature  on  this  im- 
portant part  of  the  American  Constitution. 

Here,  then,  we  have  the  concurrent  authority  of  Presi- 
dent Washington,  of  the  Senate,  and  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, numbers  of  whom  had  taken  an  active  part  in 
the  convention  which  framed  the  Constitution  and  in  the 
State  conventions  which  adopted  it,  that  the  President  de- 
rived an  unqualified  power  of  removal  from  that  instrument 
itself,  which  is  "  beyond  the  reach  of  legislative  authority." 
Upon  this  principle  the  Government  has  now  been  steadily 
administered  for  about  forty-five  years,  during  which  there 
have  been  numerous  removals  made  by  the  President  or  by 
his  direction,  embracing  every  grade  of  executive  officers 
from  the  heads  of  Departments  to  the  messengers  of  bu- 
reaus. 


342  Andrew  Jackson 

The  Treasury  Department  in  the  discussions  of  1789  was 
considered  on  the  same  footing  as  the  other  Executive  De- 
partments, and  in  the  act  estabhshing  it  were  incorporated 
the  precise  words  indicative  of  the  sense  of  Congress  that 
the  President  derives  his  power  to  remove  the  Secretary 
from  the  Constitution,  which  appear  in  the  act  estabhshing 
the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs.  An  Assistant  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  was  created,  and  it  was  provided  that 
he  should  take  charge  of  the  books  and  papers  of  the  De- 
partment "  whenever  the  Secretary  shall  be  removed  from 
office  by  the  President  of  the  United  States."  The  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  being  appointed  by  the  President,  and  being 
considered  as  constitutionally  removable  by  him,  it  appears 
never  to  have  occurred  to  anyone  in  the  Congress  of  1789, 
or  since  until  very  recently,  that  he  was  other  than  an  exec- 
utive officer,  the  mere  instrument  of  the  Chief  Magistrate 
in  the  execution  of  the  laws,  subject,  like  all  other  heads  of 
Departments,  to  his  supervision  and  control.  No  such  idea 
as  an  officer  of  the  Congress  can  be  found  in  the  Constitu- 
tion or  appears  to  have  suggested  itself  to  those  who  organ- 
ized the  Government.  There  are  officers  of  each  House  the 
appointment  of  which  is  authorized  by  the  Constitution,  but 
all  officers  referred  to  in  that  instrument  as  coming  within 
the  appointing  power  of  the  President,  whether  established 
thereby  or  created  by  law,  are  "  officers  of  the  United 
States."  No  joint  power  of  appointment  is  given  to  the  two 
Houses  of  Congress,  nor  is  there  any  accountability  to  them 
as  one  body ;  but  as  soon  as  any  office  is  created  by  law,  of 
whatever  name  or  character,  the  appointment  of  the  person 
or  persons  to  fill  it  devolves  by  the  Constitution  upon  the 
President,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  unless 
it  be  an  inferior  office,  and  the  appointment  be  vested  by  the 
law  itself  "  in  the  President  alone,  in  the  courts  of  law,  or 
in  the  heads  of  Departments." 

But  at  the  time  of  the  organization  of  the  Treasury  De- 
partment an  incident  occurred  which  distinctly  evinces  the 
unanimous  concurrence  of  the  First  Congress  in  the  prin- 
ciple that  the  Treasury  Department  is  wholly  executive  in 


The  Expunging  Resolution        343 

its  character  and  responsibilities.  A  motion  was  made  to 
strike  out  the  provision  of  the  bill  making  it  the  duty  of  the 
Secretary  "  to  digest  and  report  plans  for  the  improvement 
and  management  of  the  revenue  and  for  the  support  of  pub- 
lic credit,"  on  the  ground  that  it  would  give  the  executive 
department  of  the  Government  too  much  influence  and 
power  in  Congress.  The  motion  was  not  opposed  on  the 
ground  that  the  Secretary  was  the  officer  of  Congress  and 
responsible  to  that  body,  which  would  have  been  conclusive 
if  admitted,  but  on  other  ground,  which  conceded  his  exec- 
utive cliaracter  throughout.  The  whole  discussion  evinces 
an  unanimous  concurrence  in  the  principle  that  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  is  wholly  an  executive  officer,  and  the 
struggle  of  the  minority  was  to  restrict  his  power  as  such. 
From  that  time  down  to  the  present  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  the  Treasurer,  Register,  Comptrollers,  Auditors, 
and  clerks  who  fill  the  offices  of  that  Department  have  in  the 
practice  of  the  Government  been  considered  and  treated  as 
on  the  same  footing  with  corresponding  grades  of  officers 
in  all  the  other  Executive  Departments. 

The  custody  of  the  public  property,  under  such  regula- 
tions as  may  be  prescribed  by  legislative  authority,  has  al- 
ways been  considered  an  appropriate  function  of  the  exec- 
utive department  in  this  and  all  other  Governments.  In 
accordance  with  this  principle,  every  species  of  property  be- 
longing to  the  United  States  (excepting  that  which  is  in  the 
use  of  the  several  coordinate  departments  of  the  Govern- 
ment as  means  to  aid  them  in  performing  their  appropriate 
functions)  is  in  charge  of  officers  appointed  by  the  Presi- 
dent, whether  it  be  lands,  or  buildings,  or  merchandise, 
or  provisions,  or  clothing,  or  arms  and  munitions  of  war. 
The  superintendents  and  keepers  of  the  whole  are  appoint- 
ed by  the  President,  responsible  to  him,  and  removable  at 
his  will. 

Public  money  is  but  a  species  of  public  property.  It  can 
not  be  raised  by  taxation  or  customs,  nor  brought  into  the 
Treasury  in  any  other  way  except  by  law ;  but  whenever  or 
howsoever  obtained,  its  custody  always  has  been  and  always 


344  Andrew  Jackson 

must  be,  unless  the  Constitution  be  changed,  intrusted  to  the 
executive  department.  No  officer  can  be  created  by  Con- 
gress for  the  purpose  of  taking  charge  of  it  whose  appoint- 
ment would  not  by  the  Constitution  at  once  devolve  on  the 
President  and  who  would  not  be  responsible  to  him  for  the 
faithful  performance  of  his  duties.  The  legislative  power 
may  undoubtedly  bind  him  and  the  President  by  any  laws 
they  may  think  proper  to  enact ;  they  may  prescribe  in  what 
place  particular  portions  of  the  public  property  shall  be  kept 
and  for  what  reason  it  shall  be  removed,  as  they  may  direct 
that  supplies  for  the  Army  or  Navy  shall  be  kept  in  particu- 
lar stores,  and  it  will  be  the  duty  of  the  President  to  see  that 
the  law  is  faithfully  executed;  yet  will  the  custody  remain 
in  the  executive  department  of  the  Government.  Were  the 
Congress  to  assume,  with  or  without  a  legislative  act,  the 
power  of  appointing  officers,  independently  of  the  President, 
to  take  the  charge  and  custody  of  the  public  property  con- 
tained in  the  military  and  naval  arsenals,  magazines,  and 
storehouses,  it  is  believed  that  such  an  act  would  be  regarded 
by  all  as  a  palpable  usurpation  of  executive  power,  sub- 
versive of  the  form  as  well  as  the  fundamental  principles  of 
our  Government.  But  where  is  the  difference  in  principle 
whether  the  public  property  be  in  the  form  of  arms,  muni- 
tions of  war,  and  supplies  or  in  gold  and  silver  or  bank 
notes?  None  can  be  perceived;  none  is  believed  to  exist. 
Congress  can  not,  therefore,  take  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
executive  department  the  custody  of  the  public  property  or 
money  without  an  assumption  of  executive  power  and  a  sub- 
version of  the  first  principles  of  the  Constitution. 

The  Congress  of  the  United  States  have  never  passed  an 
act  imperatively  directing  that  the  public  moneys  shall  be 
kept  in  any  particular  place  or  places.  From  the  origin  of 
the  Government  to  the  year  1816  the  statute  book  was 
wholly  silent  on  the  subject.  In  1789  a  Treasurer  was  cre- 
ated, subordinate  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and 
through  him  to  the  President.  He  was  required  to  give 
bond  safely  to  keep  and  faithfully  to  disburse  the  public 
moneys,  without  any  direction  as  to  the  manner  or  places  in 


The  Expunging  Resolution        345 

which  they  should  be  kept.  By  reference  to  the  practice  of 
the  Government  it  is  found  that  from  its  first  organization 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  acting  under  the  supervision 
of  the  President,  designated  the  places  in  which  the  public 
moneys  should  be  kept,  and  especially  directed  all  transfers 
from  place  to  place.  This  practice  was  continued,  with  the 
silent  acquiescence  of  Congress,  from  1789  down  to  18 16, 
and  although  many  banks  were  selected  and  discharged,  and 
although  a  portion  of  the  moneys  were  first  placed  in  the 
State  banks,  and  then  in  the  former  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  and  upon  the  dissolution  of  that  were  again  trans- 
ferred to  the  State  banks,  no  legislation  was  thought  neces- 
sary by  Congress,  and  all  the  operations  were  originated  and 
perfected  by  Executive  authority.  The  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  responsible  to  the  President,  and  with  his  appro- 
bation, made  contracts  and  arrangements  in  relation  to  the 
whole  subject-matter,  which  was  thus  entirely  committed  to 
the  direction  of  the  President  under  his  responsibilities  to 
the  American  people  and  to  those  who  were  authorized  to 
impeach  and  punish  him  for  any  breach  of  this  important 
trust. 

The  act  of  18 16  establishing  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
directed  the  deposits  of  public  money  to  be  made  in  that 
bank  and  its  branches  in  places  in  which  the  said  bank  and 
branches  thereof  may  be  established,  "  unless  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  should  otherwise  order  and  direct,"  in  which 
event  he  was  required  to  give  his  reasons  to  Congress.  This 
was  but  a  continuation  of  his  preexisting  power  as  the  head 
of  an  Executive  Department  to  direct  where  the  deposits 
should  be  made,  with  the  superadded  obligation  of  giving 
his  reasons  to  Congress  for  making  them  elsewhere  than  in 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States  and  its  branches.  It  is  not  to 
be  considered  that  this  provision  in  any  degree  altered  the 
relation  between  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  the 
President  as  the  responsible  head  of  the  executive  depart- 
ment, or  released  the  latter  from  his  constitutional  obliga- 
tion to  "  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed." 
On  the  contrary,  it  increased  his  responsibilities  by  adding 


34^  Andrew  Jackson 

another  to  the  long  Hst  of  laws  which  it  was  his  duty  to 
carry  into  effect. 

It  would  be  an  extraordinary  result  if  because  the  person 
charged  by  law  with  a  public  duty  is  one  of  his  Secretaries 
it  were  less  the  duty  of  the  President  to  see  that  law  faith- 
fully executed  than  other  laws  enjoining  duties  upon  subor- 
dinate officers  or  private  citizens.  If  there  be  any  differ- 
ence, it  would  seem  that  the  obligation  is  the  stronger  in 
relation  to  the  former,  because  the  neglect  is  in  his  presence 
and  the  remedy  at  hand. 

It  can  not  be  doubted  that  it  was  the  legal  duty  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  order  and  direct  the  deposits 
of  the  public  money  to  be  made  elsewhere  than  in  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  whenever  sufficient  reasons,  existed  for 
making  the  change.  If  in  such  a  case  he  neglected  or  re- 
fused to  act,  he  would  neglect  or  refuse  to  execute  the  law. 
What  would  be  the  sworn  duty  of  the  President  ?  Could  he 
say  that  the  Constitution  did  not  bind  him  to  see  the  law 
faithfully  executed  because  it  was  one  of  his  Secretaries  and 
not  himself  upon  whom  the  service  was  specially  imposed? 
Might  he  not  be  asked  whether  there  was  any  such  limita- 
tion to  his  obligations  prescribed  in  the  Constitution? 
Whether  he  is  not  equally  bound  to  take  care  that  the  laws 
be  faithfully  executed,  whether  they  impose  duties  on  the 
highest  officer  of  State  or  the  lowest  subordinate  in  any  of 
the  Departments  ?  Might  he  not  be  told  that  it  was  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  causing  all  executive  officers,  from  the  high- 
est to  the  lowest,  faithfully  to  perform  the  services  required 
of  them  by  law  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  have 
made  him  their  Chief  Magistrate  and  the  Constitution  has 
clothed  him  with  the  entire  executive  power  of  this  Govern- 
ment ?  The  principles  implied  in  these  questions  appear  too 
plain  to  need  elucidation. 

But  here  also  we  have  a  cotemporaneous  construction  of 
the  act  which  shows  that  it  was  not  understood  as  in  any 
way  changing  the  relations  between  the  President  and  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  or  as  placing  the  latter  out  of  Exec- 
utive control  even  in  relation  to  the  deposits  of  the  public 


The   Expunging   Resolution        347 

money.  Nor  on  that  point  are  we  left  to  any  equivocal  testi- 
mony. The  documents  of  the  Treasury  Department  show 
that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  did  apply  to  the  President 
and  obtained  his  approbation  and  sanction  to  the  original 
transfer  of  the  public  deposits  to  the  present  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  and  did  carry  the  measure  into  effect  in  obe- 
dience to  his  decision.  They  also  show  that  transfers  of  the 
public  deposits  from  the  branches  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  to  State  banks  at  Chillicothe,  Cincinnati,  and  Louis- 
ville, in  1819,  were  made  with  the  approbation  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  by  his  authority.  They  show  that  upon  all  impor- 
tant questions  appertaining  to  his  Department,  whether  they 
related  to  the  public  deposits  or  other  matters,  it  was  the 
constant  practice  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  obtain 
for  his  acts  the  approval  and  sanction  of  the  President. 
These  acts  and  the  principles  on  which  they  were  founded 
were  known  to  all  the  departments  of  the  Government,  to 
Congress  and  the  country,  and  until  very  recently  appear 
never  to  have  been  called  in  question. 

Thus  was  it  settled  by  the  Constitution,  the  laws,  and  the 
whole  practice  of  the  Government  that  the  entire  executive 
power  is  vested  in  the  President  of  the  United  States ;  that 
as  incident  to  that  power  the  right  of  appointing  and  remov- 
ing those  officers  who  are  to  aid  him  in  the  execution  of  the 
laws,  wnth  such  restrictions  only  as  the  Constitution  pre- 
scribes, is  vested  in  the  President ;  that  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  is  one  of  those  officers;  that  the  custody  of  the 
public  property  and  money  is  an  Executive  function  which, 
in  relation  to  the  money,  has  always  been  exercised  through 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  his  subordinates ;  that  in 
the  performance  of  these  duties  he  is  subject  to  the  super- 
vision and  control  of  the  President,  and  in  all  important 
measures  having  relation  to  them  consults  the  Chief  Magis- 
trate and  obtains  his  approval  and  sanction;  that  the  law 
establishing  the  bank  did  not,  as  it  could  not,  change  the 
relation  between  the  President  and  the  Secretary — did  not 
release  the  former  from  his  obligation  to  see  the  law  faith- 
fully executed  nor  the  latter  from  the  President's  supervision 


34^  Andrew  Jackson 

and  control;  that  afterwards  and  before  the  Secretary  did 
in  fact  consult  and  obtain  the  sanction  of  the  President  to 
transfers  and  removals  of  the  public  deposits,  and  that  all 
departments  of  the  Government,  and  the  nation  itself,  ap- 
proved or  acquiesced  in  these  acts  and  principles  as  in  strict 
conformity  with  our  Constitution  and  laws. 

During  the  last  year  the  approaching  termination,  accord- 
ing to  the  provisions  of  its  charter  and  the  solemn  decision 
of  the  American  people,  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
made  it  expedient,  and  its  exposed  abuses  and  corruptions 
made  it,  in  my  opinion,  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  to  place  the  moneys  of  the  United  States  in  other 
depositories.  The  Secretary  did  not  concur  in  that  opinion, 
and  declined  giving  the  necessary  order  and  direction.  So 
glaring  were  the  abuses  and  corruptions  of  the  bank,  so  evi- 
dent its  fixed  purpose  to  persevere  in  them,  and  so  palpable 
its  design  by  its  money  and  power  to  control  the  Govern- 
ment and  change  its  character,  that  I  deemed  it  the  imper- 
ative duty  of  the  Executive  authority,  by  the  exertion  of 
every  power  confided  to  it  by  the  Constitution  and  law^s,  to 
check  its  career  and  lessen  its  ability  to  do  mischief,  even  in 
the  painful  alternative  of  dismissing  the  head  of  one  of  the 
Departments.  At  the  time  the  removal  was  made  other 
causes  sufficient  to  justify  it  existed,  but  if  they  had  not  the 
Secretary  would  have  been  dismissed  for  this  cause  only. 

His  place  I  supplied  by  one  whose  opinions  were  well 
known  to  me,  and  whose  frank  expression  of  them  in  an- 
other situation  and  generous  sacrifices  of  interest  and  feeling 
when  unexpectedly  called  to  the  station  he  now  occupies 
ought  forever  to  have  shielded  his  motives  from  suspicion 
and  his  character  from  reproach.  In  accordance  with  the 
views  long  before  expressed  by  him  he  proceeded,  with  my 
sanction,  to  make  arrangements  for  depositing  the  moneys 
of  the  United  States  in  other  safe  institutions. 

The  resolution  of  the  Senate  as  originally  framed  and  as 
passed,  if  it  refers  to  these  acts,  presupposes  a  right  in  that 
body  to  interfere  with  this  exercise  of  Executive  power.  If 
the  principle  be  once  admitted,  it  is  not  difficult  to  perceive 


The  Expunging  Resolution        349 

where  it  may  end.  If  by  a  mere  denunciation  like  this  reso- 
lution the  President  should  ever  be  induced  to  act  in  a  mat- 
ter of  official  duty  contrary  to  the  honest  convictions  of  his 
own  mind  in  compliance  with  the  wishes  of  the  Senate,  the 
constitutional  independence  of  the  executive  department 
would  be  as  effectually  destroyed  and  its  power  as  effectually 
transferred  to  the  Senate  as  if  that  end  had  been  accom- 
plished by  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution.  But  if  the 
Senate  have  a  right  to  interfere  with  the  Executive  powers, 
they  have  also  the  right  to  make  that  interference  effective, 
and  if  the  assertion  of  the  power  implied  in  the  resolution 
be  silently  acquiesced  in  we  may  reasonably  apprehend  that 
it  will  be  followed  at  some  future  day  by  an  attempt  at 
actual  enforcement.  The  Senate  may  refuse,  except  on  the 
condition  that  he  will  surrender  his  opinions  to  theirs  and 
obey  their  will,  to  perform  their  own  constitutional  func- 
tions, to  pass  the  necessary  laws,  to  sanction  appropriations 
proposed  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  to  confirm 
proper  nominations  made  by  the  President.  It  has  already 
been  maintained  (and  it  is  not  conceivable  that  the  resolu- 
tion of  the  Senate  can  be  based  on  any  other  principle)  that 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  the  officer  of  Congress  and 
independent  of  the  President;  that  the  President  has  no 
right  to  control  him,  and  consequently  none  to  remove  him. 
With  the  same  propriety  and  on  similar  grounds  may  the 
Secretary  of  State,  the  Secretaries  of  War  and  the  Navy, 
and  the  Postmaster-General  each  in  succession  be  declared 
independent  of  the  President,  the  subordinates  of  Congress, 
and  removable  only  with  the  concurrence  of  the  Senate. 
Followed  to  its  consequences,  this  principle  will  be  found 
effectually  to  destroy  one  coordinate  department  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, to  concentrate  in  the  hands  of  the  Senate  the  whole 
executive  power,  and  to  leave  the  President  as  powerless  as 
he  would  be  useless — the  shadow  of  authority  after  the  sub- 
stance had  departed. 

The  time  and  the  occasion  which  have  called  forth  the 
resolution  of  the  Senate  seem  to  impose  upon  me  an  addi- 
tional obligation  not  to  pass  it  over  in  silence.    Nearly  forty- 


i5o  Andrew  Jackson 


five  years  had  the  President  exercised,  without  a  question 
as  to  his  rightful  authority,  those  powers  for  the  recent  as- 
sumption of  which  he  is  now  denounced.  The  vicissitudes 
of  peace  and  war  had  attended  our  Government;  violent 
parties,  watchful  to  take  advantage  of  any  seeming  usurpa- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  Executive,  had  distracted  our  coun- 
cils; frequent  removals,  or  forced  resignations  in  every  sense 
tantamount  to  removals,  had  been  made  of  the  Secretary 
and  other  officers  of  the  Treasury,  and  yet  in  no  one  instance 
is  it  known  that  any  man,  whether  patriot  or  partisan,  had 
raised  his  voice  against  it  as  a  violation  of  the  Constitution. 
The  expediency  and  justice  of  such  changes  in  reference  to 
public  officers  of  all  grades  have  frequently  been  the  topic 
of  discussion,  but  the  constitutional  right  of  the  President 
to  appoint,  control,  and  remove  the  head  of  the  Treasury  as 
well  as  all  other  Departments  seems  to  have  been  universally 
conceded.  And  what  is  the  occasion  upon  which  other  prin- 
ciples have  been  first  officially  asserted?  The  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  a  great  moneyed  monopoly,  had  attempted  to 
obtain  a  renewal  of  its  charter  by  controlling  the  elections 
of  the  people  and  the  action  of  the  Government.  The  use 
of  its  corporate  funds  and  power  in  that  attempt  w'as  fully 
disclosed,  and  it  was  made  known  to  the  President  that  the 
corporation  was  putting  in  train  the  same  course  of  meas- 
ures, with  the  view  of  making  another  vigorous  effort, 
through  an  interference  in  the  elections  of  the  people,  to 
control  public  opinion  and  force  the  Government  to  yield  to 
its  demands.  This,  with  its  corruption  of  the  press,  its  viola- 
tion of  its  charter,  its  exclusion  of  the  Government  directors 
from  its  proceedings,  its  neglect  of  duty  and  arrogant  pre- 
tensions, made  it,  in  the  opinion  of  the  President,  incompat- 
ible with  the  public  interest  and  the  safety  of  our  institutions 
that  it  should  be  longer  employed  as  the  fiscal  agent  of  the 
Treasury.  A  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  appointed  in  the 
recess  of  the  Senate,  who  had  not  been  confirmed  by  that 
body,  and  whom  the  President  might  or  might  not  at  his 
pleasure  nominate  to  them,  refused  to  do  w^hat  his  superior 
in  the  executive  department  considered  the  most  imperative 


The  Expunging  Resolution        35 ^ 

of  his  duties,  and  became  in  fact,  however  innocent  his 
motives,  the  protector  of  the  bank.  And  on  this  occasion  it 
is  discovered  for  the  first  time  that  those  who  framed  the 
Constitution  misunderstood  it;  that  the  First  Congress  and 
all  its  successors  have  been  under  a  delusion ;  that  the  prac- 
tice of  near  forty-five  years  is  but  a  continued  usurpation ; 
that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  not  responsible  to  the 
President,  and  that  to  remove  him  is  a  violation  of  the  Con- 
stitution and  laws  for  which  the  President  deserves  to  stand 
forever  dishonored  on  the  journals  of  the  Senate. 

There  are  also  some  other  circumstances  connected  with 
the  discussion  and  passage  of  the  resolution  to  which  I  feel 
it  to  be  not  only  my  right,  but  my  duty,  to  refer.  It  appears 
by  the  Journal  of  the  Senate  that  among  the  twenty-six  Sen- 
ators who  voted  for  the  resolution  on  its  final  passage,  and 
who  had  supported  it  in  debate  in  its  original  form,  were 
one  of  the  Senators  from  the  State  of  Maine,  the  two  Sen- 
ators from  New  Jersey,  and  one  of  the  Senators  from  Ohio. 
It  also  appears  by  the  same  Journal  and  by  the  files  of  the 
Senate  that  the  legislatures  of  these  States  had  severally 
expressed  their  opinions  in  respect  to  the  Executive  proceed- 
ings drawn  in  question  before  the  Senate. 

The  two  branches  of  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  Maine 
on  the  25th  of  January,  1834,  passed  a  preamble  and  series 
of  resolutions  in  the  following  words : 

Whereas  at  an  early  period  after  the  election  of  Andrew 
Jackson  to  the  Presidency,  in  accordance  with  the  senti- 
ments which  he  had  uniformly  expressed,  the  attention  of 
Congress  was  called  to  the  constitutionality  and  expediency 
of  the  renewal  of  the  charter  of  the  United  States  Bank; 
and 

Whereas  the  bank  has  transcended  its  chartered  limits  in 
the  management  of  its  business  transactions,  and  has  aban- 
doned the  object  of  its  creation  by  engaging  in  political  con- 
troversies, by  wielding  its  power  and  influence  to  embarrass 
the  Administration  of  the  General  Government,  and  by 
bringing  insolvency  and  distress  upon  the  commercial  com- 
munity; and 


352  Andrew  Jackson 

Whereas  the  pubhc  security  from  such  an  institution  con- 
sists less  in  its  present  pecuniary  capacity  to  discharge  its 
Habihties  than  in  the  fidehty  with  which  the  trusts  reposed 
in  it  have  been  executed ;  and 

Whereas  the  abuse  and  misapphcation  of  the  powers  con- 
ferred have  destroyed  the  confidence  of  the  pubHc  in  the 
officers  of  the  bank  and  demonstrated  that  such  powers  en- 
danger the  stabihty  of  repubhcan  institutions :  Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  in  the  removal  of  the  public  deposits  from 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  in  the  manner  of 
their  removal,  we  recognize  in  the  Administration  an  ad- 
herence to  constitutional  rights  and  the  performance  of  a 
public  duty. 

Resolved,  That  this  legislature  entertain  the  same  opinion 
as  heretofore  expressed  by  preceding  legislatures  of  this 
State,  that  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  ought  not  to  be 
rechartered. 

Resolved,  That  the  Senators  of  this  State  in  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  be  instructed  and  the  Representatives 
be  requested  to  oppose  the  restoration  of  the  deposits  and 
the  renewal  of  the  charter  of  the  United  States  Bank. 

On  the  nth  of  January,  1834,  the  house  of  assembly  and 
council  composing  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey 
passed  a  preamble  and  a  series  of  resolutions  in  the  follow- 
ing words : 

Whereas  the  present  crisis  in  our  public  affairs  calls  for 
a  decided  expression  of  the  voice  of  the  people  of  this  State ; 
and 

Whereas  we  consider  it  the  undoubted  right  of  the  legis- 
latures of  the  several  States  to  instruct  those  who  represent 
their  interests  in  the  councils  of  the  nation  in  all  matters 
which  intimately  concern  the  public  weal  and  may  affect  the 
happiness  or  well-being  of  the  people :  Therefore, 

I.  Be  it  resolved  by  the  council  and  general  assembly  of 
this  State,  That  while  we  acknowledge  with  feelings  of  de- 
vout gratitude  our  obligations  to  the  Great  Ruler  of  Na- 
tions for  His  mercies  to  us  as  a  people  that  we  have  been 
preserved  alike  from  foreign  war,  from  the  evils  of  internal 
commotions,  and  the  machinations  of  designing  and  ambi- 


The  Expunging  Resolution        353 

tious  men  who  would  prostrate  the  fair  fabric  of  our  Union, 
that  we  ought  nevertheless  to  humble  ourselves  in  His  pres- 
ence and  implore  His  aid  for  the  perpetuation  of  our  repub- 
lican institutions  and  for  a  continuance  of  that  unexampled 
prosperity  which  our  country  has  hitherto  enjoyed. 

2.  Resolved,  That  we  have  undiminished  confidence  in 
the  integrity  and  firmness  of  the  venerable  patriot  who  now 
holds  the  distinguished  post  of  Chief  Magistrate  of  this  na- 
tion, and  whose  purity  of  purpose  and  elevated  motives  have 
so  often  received  the  unqualified  approbation  of  a  large  ma- 
jority of  his  fellow-citizens. 

3.  Resolved,  That  we  view  with  agitation  and  alarm  the 
existence  of  a  great  moneyed  incorporation  which  threatens 
to  embarrass  the  operations  of  the  Government  and  by  means 
of  its  unbounded  influence  upon  the  currency  of  the  country 
to  scatter  distress  and  ruin  throughout  the  community,  and 
that  we  therefore  solemnly  believe  the  present  Bank  of  the 
United  States  ought  not  to  be  rechartered. 

4.  Resolved,  That  our  Senators  in  Congress  be  instructed 
and  our  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  be  re- 
quested to  sustain,  by  their  votes  and  influence,  the  course 
adopted  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Mr.  Taney,  in 
relation  to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  and  the  deposits 
of  the  Government  moneys,  believing  as  we  do  the  course 
of  the  Secretary  to  have  been  constitutional,  and  that  the 
public  good  required  its  adoption. 

5.  Resolved,  That  the  governor  be  requested  to  forward 
a  copy  of  the  above  resolutions  to  each  of  our  Senators  and 
Representatives  from  this  State  to  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States. 

On  the  2ist  day  of  February  last  the  legislature  of  the 
same  State  reiterated  the  opinions  and  instructions  before 
given  by  joint  resolutions  in  the  following  words: 

Resolved  by  the  council  and  general  assembly  of  the  State 
of  New  Jersey,  That  they  do  adhere  to  the  resolutions 
passed  by  them  on  the  nth  day  of  January  last,  relative  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  course  of  Mr.  Taney  in  removing  the  Gov- 
ernment deposits. 


354  Andrew  Jackson 

Resolved,  That  the  legislature  of  New  Jersey  have  not 
seen  any  reason  to  depart  from  such  resolutions  since  the 
passage  thereof,  and  it  is  their  wish  that  they  should  receive 
from  our  Senators  and  Representatives  of  this  State  in  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  that  attention  and  obedience 
which  are  due  to  the  opinion  of  a  sovereign  State  openly 
expressed  in  its  legislative  capacity. 

On  the  2d  of  January,  1834,  the  senate  and  house  of  rep- 
resentatives composing  the  legislature  of  Ohio  passed  a  pre- 
amble and  resolutions  in  the  following  words : 

Whereas  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  will  attempt  to  obtain  a  renewal  of  its  charter 
at  the  present  session  of  Congress;  and 

Whereas  it  is  abundantly  evident  that  said  bank  has  exer- 
cised powers  derogatory  to  the  spirit  of  our  free  institutions 
and  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  these  United  States ;  and 

Whereas  there  is  just  reason  to  doubt  the  constitutional 
power  of  Congress  to  grant  acts  of  incorporation  for  bank- 
ing purposes  out  of  the  District  of  Columbia ;  and 

Whereas  we  believe  the  proper  disposal  of  the  public 
lands  to  be  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  people  of  these 
United  States,  and  that  honor  and  good  faith  require  their 
equitable  distribution :  Therefore, 

Resolved  by  the  general  assembly  of  the  State  of  Ohio, 
That  we  consider  the  removal  of  the  public  deposits  from 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States  as  required  by  the  best  inter- 
ests of  our  country,  and  that  a  proper  sense  of  public  duty 
imperiously  demanded  that  that  institution  should  be  no 
longer  used  as  a  depository  of  the  public  funds. 

Resolved  also,  That  we  view  with  decided  disapprobation 
the  renewed  attempts  in  Congress  to  secure  the  passage  of 
the  bill  providing  for  the  disposal  of  the  public  domain  upon 
the  principles  proposed  by  Mr.  Clay,  inasmuch  as  we  believe 
that  such  a  law  would  be  unequal  in  its  operations  and  un- 
just in  its  results. 

Resolved  also.  That  we  heartily  approve  of  the  principles 
set  forth  in  the  late  veto  message  upon  that  subject;  and 

Resolved,  That  our  Senators  in  Congress  be  instructed 
and  our  Representatives  requested  to  use  their  influence  to 


The  Expunging  Resolution        355 

prevent  the  rechartering  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
to  sustain  the  Administration  in  its  removal  of  the  pubHc 
deposits,  and  to  oppose  the  passage  of  a  land  bill  containing 
the  principles  adopted  in  the  act  upon  that  subject  passed 
at  the  last  session  of  Congress. 

Resolved,  That  the  governor  be  requested  to  transmit 
copies  of  the  foregoing  preamble  and  resolutions  to  each  of 
our  Senators  and  Representatives. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  four  Senators  have  declared  by  their 
votes  that  the  President,  in  the  late  Executive  proceedings 
in  relation  to  the  revenue,  had  been  guilty  of  the  impeach- 
able offense  of  "assuming  upon  himself  authority  and  power 
not  conferred  by  the  Constitution  and  laws,  but  in  deroga- 
tion of  both,"  whilst  the  legislatures  of  their  respective 
States  had  deliberately  approved  those  very  proceedings  as 
consistent  with  the  Constitution  and  demanded  by  the  public 
good.  If  these  four  votes  had  been  given  in  accordance  with 
the  sentiments  of  the  legislatures,  as  above  expressed,  there 
would  have  been  but  twenty-two  votes  out  of  forty-six  for 
censuring  the  President,  and  the  unprecedented  record  of  his 
conviction  could  not  have  been  placed  upon  the  Journal  of 
the  Senate. 

In  thus  referring  to  the  resolutions  and  instructions  of  the 
State  legislatures  I  disclaim  and  repudiate  all  authority  or 
design  to  interfere  with  the  responsibility  due  from  members 
of  the  Senate  to  their  own  consciences,  their  constituents, 
and  their  country.  The  facts  now  stated  belong  to  the  his- 
tory of  these  proceedings,  and  are  important  to  the  just  de- 
velopment of  the  principles  and  interests  involved  in  them 
as  well  as  to  the  proper  vindication  of  the  executive  depart- 
ment, and  with  that  view,  and  that  view  only,  are  they  here 
made  the  topic  of  remark. 

The  dangerous  tendency  of  the  doctrine  which  denies  to 
the  President  the  power  of  supervising,  directing,  and  con- 
trolling the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  like  manner  with 
the  other  executive  officers  would  soon  be  manifest  in  prac- 
tice were  the  doctrine  to  be  established.  The  President  is 
the  direct  representative  of  the  American  people,  but  the  Sec- 


35^  Andrew  Jackson 

retaries  are  not.  If  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  be  inde- 
pendent of  the  President  in  the  execution  of  the  laws,  then 
is  there  no  direct  responsibihty  to  the  people  in  that  impor- 
tant branch  of  this  Government  to  which  is  committed  the 
care  of  the  national  finances.  And  it  is  in  the  power  of  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  or  any  other  corporation,  body 
of  men,  or  individuals,  if  a  Secretary  shall  be  found  to  ac- 
cord with  them  in  opinion  or  can  be  induced  in  practice  to 
promote  their  views,  to  control  through  him  the  whole  ac- 
tion of  the  Government  (so  far  as  it  is  exercised  by  his 
Department)  in  defiance  of  the  Chief  Magistrate  elected  by 
the  people  and  responsible  to  them. 

But  the  evil  tendency  of  the  particular  doctrine  adverted 
to,  though  sufficiently  serious,  would  be  as  nothing  in  com- 
parison with  the  pernicious  consequences  which  would  in- 
evitably flow  from  the  approbation  and  allowance  by  the 
people  and  the  practice  by  the  Senate  of  the  unconstitutional 
power  of  arraigning  and  censuring  the  official  conduct  of  the 
Executive  in  the  manner  recently  pursued.  Such  proceed- 
ings are  eminently  calculated  to  unsettle  the  foundations  of 
the  Government,  to  disturb  the  harmonious  action  of  its  dif- 
ferent departments,  and  to  break  down  the  checks  and  bal- 
ances by  which  the  wisdom  of  its  framers  sought  to  insure 
its  stability  and  usefulness. 

The  honest  differences  of  opinion  which  occasionally  exist 
between  the  Senate  and  the  President  in  regard  to  matters 
in  which  both  are  obliged  to  participate  are  sufficiently  em- 
barrassing; but  if  the  course  recently  adopted  by  the  Senate 
shall  hereafter  be  frequently  pursued,  it  is  not  only  obvious 
that  the  harmony  of  the  relations  between  the  President  and 
the  Senate  will  be  destroyed,  but  that  other  and  graver  ef- 
fects will  ultimately  ensue.  If  the  censurers  of  the  Senate 
be  submitted  to  by  the  President,  the  confidence  of  the  peo- 
ple in  his  ability  and  virtue  and  the  character  and  usefulness 
of  his  Administration  will  soon  be  at  an  end,  and  the  real 
power  of  the  Government  will  fall  into  the  hands  of  a  body 
holding  their  offices  for  long  terms,  not  elected  by  the  people 
and  not  to  them  directly  responsible.    If,  on  the  other  hand, 


The  Expunging  Resolution       357 

the  illegal  censures  of  the  Senate  should  be  resisted  by  the 
President,  collisions  and  angry  controversies  might  ensue, 
discreditable  in  their  progress  and  in  the  end  compelling  the 
people  to  adopt  the  conclusion  either  that  their  Chief  Magis- 
trate was  unworthy  of  their  respect  or  that  the  Senate  was 
chargeable  with  calumny  and  injustice.  Either  of  these  re- 
sults would  impair  public  confidence  in  the  perfection  of  the 
system  and  lead  to  serious  alterations  of  its  framework  or 
to  the  practical  abandonment  of  some  of  its  provisions. 

The  influence  of  such  proceedings  on  the  other  depart- 
ments of  the  Government,  and  more  especially  on  the  States, 
could  not  fail  to  be  extensively  pernicious.  When  the  judges 
in  the  last  resort  of  official  misconduct  themselves  overleap 
the  bounds  of  their  authority  as  prescribed  by  the  Constitu- 
tion, what  general  disregard  of  its  provisions  might  not  their 
example  be  expected  to  produce?  And  who  does  not  per- 
ceive that  such  contempt  of  the  Federal  Constitution  by  one 
of  its  most  important  departments  would  hold  out  the 
strongest  temptations  to  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  State 
sovereignties  whenever  they  shall  suppose  their  just  rights 
to  have  been  invaded?  Thus  all  the  independent  depart- 
ments of  the  Government,  and  the  States  which  compose 
our  confederated  Union,  instead  of  attending  to  their  ap- 
propriate duties  and  leaving  those  who  may  offend  to  be 
reclaimed  or  punished  in  the  manner  pointed  out  in  the  Con- 
stitution, would  fall  to  mutual  crimination  and  recrimination 
and  give  to  the  people  confusion  and  anarchy  instead  of 
order  and  law,  until  at  length  some  form  of  aristocratic 
power  would  be  established  on  the  ruins  of  the  Constitution 
or  the  States  be  broken  into  separate  communities. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  charge  or  to  insinuate  that  the  pres- 
ent Senate  of  the  United  States  intend  in  the  most  distant 
way  to  encourage  such  a  result.  It  is  not  of  their  motives 
or  designs,  but  only  of  the  tendency  of  their  acts,  that  it  is 
my  duty  to  speak.  It  is,  if  possible,  to  make  Senators  them- 
selves sensible  of  the  danger  which  lurks  under  the  precedent 
set  in  their  resolution,  and  at  any  rate  to  perform  my  duty 
as  the  responsible  head  of  one  of  the  coequal  departments 


35^  Andrew  Jackson 

of  the  Government,  that  I  have  been  compelled  to  point  out 
the  consequences  to  which  the  discussion  and  passage  of  the 
resolution  may  lead  if  the  tendency  of  the  measure  be  not 
checked  in  its  inception.  It  is  due  to  the  high  trust  with 
which  I  have  been  charged,  to  those  who  may  be  called  to 
succeed  me  in  it,  to  the  representatives  of  the  people  whose 
constitutional  prerogative  has  been  unlawfully  assumed,  to 
the  people  and  to  the  States,  and  to  the  Constitution  they 
have  established  that  I  should  not  permit  its  provisions  to 
be  broken  down  by  such  an  attack  on  the  executive  depart- 
ment without  at  least  some  effort  "  to  preserve,  protect,  and 
defend  "  them.  With  this  view,  and  for  the  reasons  which 
have  been  stated,  I  do  hereby  solemnly  protest  against  the 
aforementioned  proceedings  of  the  Senate  as  unauthorized 
by  the  Constitution,  contrary  to  its  spirit  and  to  several  of 
its  express  provisions,  subversive  of  that  distribution  of  the 
powers  of  government  which  it  has  ordained  and  established, 
destructive  of  the  checks  and  safeguards  by  which  those 
powers  were  intended  on  the  one  hand  to  be  controlled  and 
on  the  other  to  be  protected,  and  calculated  by  their  immedi- 
ate and  collateral  effects,  by  their  character  and  tendency, 
to  concentrate  in  the  hands  of  a  body  not  directly  ame- 
nable to  the  people  a  degree  of  influence  and  power  danger- 
ous to  their  liberties  and  fatal  to  the  Constitution  of  their 
choice. 

The  resolution  of  the  Senate  contains  an  imputation  upon 
my  private  as  well  as  upon  my  public  character,  and  as  it 
must  stand  forever  on  their  journals,  I  can  not  close  this 
substitute  for  that  defense  which  I  have  not  been  allowed 
to  present  in  the  ordinary  form  without  remarking  that  I 
have  lived  in  vain  if  it  be  necessary  to  enter  into  a  formal 
vindication  of  my  character  and  purposes  from  such  an  im- 
putation. In  vain  do  I  bear  upon  my  person  enduring 
memorials  of  that  contest  in  which  American  liberty  was 
purchased ;  in  vain  have  I  since  periled  property,  fame,  and 
life  in  defense  of  the  rights  and  privileges  so  dearly  bought; 
in  vain  am  I  now,  without  a  personal  aspiration  or  the  hope 
of  individual  advantage,  encountering  responsibilities  and 


The  Expunging  Resolution        359 

dangers  from  which  by  mere  inactivity  in  relation  to  a  single 
point  I  might  have  been  exempt,  if  any  serious  doubts  can 
be  entertained  as  to  the  purity  of  my  purposes  and  motives. 
If  I  had  been  ambitious,  I  should  have  sought  an  alliance 
with  that  powerful  institution  which  even  now  aspires  to  no 
divided  empire.  If  I  had  been  venal,  I  should  have  sold 
myself  to  its  designs.  Had  I  preferred  personal  comfort  and 
official  ease  to  the  performance  of  my  arduous  duty,  I  should 
have  ceased  to  molest  it.  In  the  history  of  conquerors  and 
usurpers,  never  in  the  fire  of  youth  nor  in  the  vigor  of  man- 
hood could  I  find  an  attraction  to  lure  me  from  the  path  of 
duty,  and  now  I  shall  scarcely  find  an  inducement  to  com- 
mence their  career  of  ambition  when  gray  hairs  and  a  de- 
caying frame,  instead  of  inviting  to  toil  and  battle,  call  me 
to  the  contemplation  of  other  worlds,  where  conquerors 
cease  to  be  honored  and  usurpers  expiate  their  crimes.  The 
only  ambition  I  can  feel  is  to  acquit  myself  to  Him  to  whom 
I  must  soon  render  an  account  of  my  stewardship,  to  serve 
my  fellow-men,  and  live  respected  and  honored  in  the  his- 
tory of  my  country.  No ;  the  ambition  which  leads  me  on  is 
an  anxious  desire  and  a  fixed  determination  to  return  to  the 
people  unimpaired  the  sacred  trust  they  have  confided  to  my 
charge ;  to  heal  the  wounds  of  the  Constitution  and  preserve 
it  from  further  violation;  to  persuade  my  countrymen,  so 
far  as  I  may,  that  it  is  not  in  a  splendid  government  sup- 
ported by  powerful  monopolies  and  aristocratical  establish- 
ments that  they  will  find  happiness  or  their  liberties  protec- 
tion, but  in  a  plain  system,  void  of  pomp,  protecting  all  and 
granting  favors  to  none,  dispensing  its  blessings,  like  the 
dews  of  Heaven,  unseen  and  unfelt  save  in  the  freshness  and 
beauty  they  contribute  to  produce.  It  is  such  a  government 
that  the  genius  of  our  people  requires;  such  an  one  only 
under  which  our  States  may  remain  for  ages  to  come  united, 
prosperous,  and  free.  If  the  Almighty  Being  who  has  hith- 
erto sustained  and  protected  me  will  but  vouchsafe  to  make 
my  feeble  powers  instrumental  to  such  a  result,  I  shall  an- 
ticipate with  pleasure  the  place  to  be  assigned  me  in  the  his- 
tory of  my  country,  and  die  contented  with  the  belief  that  I 


360  Andrew  Jackson 

have  contributed  in  some  small  degree  to  increase  the  value 
and  prolong  the  duration  of  American  liberty. 

To  the  end  that  the  resolution  of  the  Senate  may  not  be 
hereafter  drawn  into  precedent  with  the  authority  of  silent 
acquiescence  on  the  part  of  the  executive  department,  and 
to  the  end  also  that  my  motives  and  views  in  the  Executive 
proceedings  denounced  in  that  resolution  may  be  known  to 
my  fellow-citizens,  to  the  world,  and  to  all  posterity,  I  re- 
spectfully request  that  this  message  and  protest  may  be  en- 
tered at  length  on  the  journals  of  the  Senate. 


Sixth  Annual  Message.* 

(December  i,  1834.) 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives: In  performing  my  duty  at  the  opening  of  your  present 
session  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  congratulate  you  again  upon 
the  prosperous  condition  of  our  beloved  country.  Divine 
Providence  has  favored  us  with  general  health,  with  rich 
rewards  in  the  fields  of  agriculture  and  in  every  branch  of 
labor,  and  with  peace  to  cultivate  and  extend  the  various 
resources  which  employ  the  virtue  and  enterprise  of  our 
citizens.  Let  us  trust  that  in  surveying  a  scene  so  flattering 
to  our  free  institutions  our  joint  deliberations  to  preserve 
them  may  be  crowned  with  success. 

Our  foreign  relations  continue,  with  but  few  exceptions, 
to  maintain  the  favorable  aspect  which  they  bore  in  my  last 
annual  message,  and  promise  to  extend  those  advantages 
which  the  principles  that  regulate  our  intercourse  with  other 
nations  are  so  well  calculated  to  secure. 

The  question  of  the  northeastern  boundary  is  still  pend- 
ing with  Great  Britain,  and  the  proposition  made  in  accord- 
ance with  the  resolution  of  the  Senate  for  the  establishment 
of  a  line  according  to  the  treaty  of  1783  has  not  been  ac- 
cepted by  that  Government.  Believing  that  every  disposi- 
tion is  felt  on  both  sides  to  adjust  this  perplexing  question 
to  the  satisfaction  of  all  the  parties  interested  in  it,  the  hope 
is  yet  indulged  that  it  may  be  effected  on  the  basis  of  that 
proposition. 

With  the  Governments  of  Austria,  Russia,  Prussia,  Hol- 

*  The  matters  of  chief  historical  interest  discussed  in  this  message 
are,  (i)  foreign  affairs;  (2)  French  spohations;  (3)  the  Bank  of  the 
U.  S. ;  (4)  internal  improvements. 

361 


362  Andrew  Jackson 

land,  Sweden,  and  Denmark  the  best  understanding  exists. 
Commerce  with  all  is  fostered  and  protected  by  reciprocal 
good  will  under  the  sanction  of  liberal  conventional  or  legal 
provisions. 

In  the  midst  of  her  internal  difficulties  the  Queen  of  Spain 
has  ratified  the  convention  for  the  payment  of  the  claims 
of  our  citizens  arising  since  1819.  It  is  in  the  course  of 
execution  on  her  part,  and  a  copy  of  it  is  now  laid  before 
you  for  such  legislation  as  may  be  found  necessary  to  en- 
able those  interested  to  derive  the  benefits  of  it. 

Yielding  to  the  force  of  circumstances  and  to  the  wise 
counsels  of  time  and  experience,  that  power  has  finally  re- 
solved no  longer  to  occupy  the  unnatural  position  in  which 
she  stood  to  the  new  Governments  established  in  this  hemi- 
sphere. I  have  the  great  satisfaction  of  stating  to  you  that 
in  preparing  the  way  for  the  restoration  of  harmony  between 
those  who  have  sprung  from  the  same  ancestors,  who  are 
allied  by  common  interests,  profess  the  same  religion,  and 
speak  the  same  language  the  United  States  have  been  ac- 
tively instrumental.  Our  efforts  to  effect  this  good  work 
will  be  persevered  in  while  they  are  deemed  useful  to  the 
parties  and  our  entire  disinterestedness  continues  to  be  felt 
and  understood.  The  act  of  Congress  to  countervail  the 
discriminating  duties  to  the  prejudice  of  our  navigation 
levied  in  Cuba  and  Puerto  Rico  has  been  transmitted  to  the 
minister  of  the  United  States  at  Madrid,  to  be  communi- 
cated to  the  Government  of  the  Queen.  No  intelligence  of 
its  receipt  has  yet  reached  the  Department  of  State.  If  the 
present  condition  of  the  country  permits  the  Government  to 
make  a  careful  and  enlarged  examination  of  the  true  in- 
terests of  these  important  portions  of  its  dominions,  no 
doubt  is  entertained  that  their  future  intercourse  with  the 
United  States  will  be  placed  upon  a  more  just  and  liberal 
basis. 

The  Florida  archives  have  not  yet  been  selected  and  de- 
livered. Recent  orders  have  been  sent  to  the  agent  of  the 
United  States  at  Havana  to  return  with  all  that  he  can  ob- 
tain, so  that  they  may  be  in  Washington  before  the  session 


Sixth  Annual  Message  363 

of  the  Supreme  Court,  to  be  used  in  the  legal  questions  there 
pending  to  which  the  Government  is  a  party. 

Internal  tranquillity  is  happily  restored  to  Portugal.  The 
distracted  state  of  the  country  rendered  unavoidable  the 
postponement  of  a  final  payment  of  the  just  claims  of  our 
citizens.  Our  diplomatic  relations  v^ill  be  soon  resumed, 
and  the  long-subsisting  friendship  with  that  power  affords 
the  strongest  guaranty  that  the  balance  due  will  receive 
prompt  attention. 

The  first  installment  due  under  the  convention  of  indem- 
nity with  the  King  of  the  Two  Sicilies  has  been  duly  re- 
ceived, and  an  offer  has  been  made  to  extinguish  the  whole 
by  a  prompt  payment — an  offer  I  did  not  consider  myself 
authorized  to  accept,  as  the  indemnification  provided  is  the 
exclusive  property  of  individual  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  The  original  adjustment  of  our  claims  and  the 
anxiety  displayed  to  fulfill  at  once  the  stipulations  made  for 
the  payment  of  them  are  highly  honorable  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  Two  Sicilies.  When  it  is  recollected  that  they 
were  the  result  of  the  injustice  of  an  intrusive  power  tem- 
porarily dominant  in  its  territory,  a  repugnance  to  acknowl- 
edge and  to  pay  which  would  have  been  neither  unnatural 
nor  unexpected,  the  circumstances  can  not  fail  to  exalt  its 
character  for  justice  and  good  faith  in  the  eyes  of  all  na- 
tions. 

The  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  between  the  United 
States  and  Belgium,  brought  to  your  notice  in  my  last  an- 
nual message  as  sanctioned  by  the  Senate,  but  the  ratifica- 
tions of  which  had  not  been  exchanged  owing  to  a  delay  in 
its  reception  at  Brussels  and  a  subsequent  absence  of  the  Bel- 
gian minister  of  foreign  affairs,  has  been,  after  mature 
deliberation,  finally  disavowed  by  that  Government  as  incon- 
sistent with  the  powers  and  instructions  given  to  their  min- 
ister who  negotiated  it.  This  disavowal  was  entirely  unex- 
pected, as  the  liberal  principles  embodied  in  the  convention, 
and  which  form  the  groundwork  of  the  objections  to  it, 
were  perfectly  satisfactory  to  the  Belgian  representative, 
and   were   supposed   to   be   not   only   within   the   powers 


3^4  Andrew  Jackson 

granted,  but  expressly  conformable  to  the  instructions  given 
to  him.  An  offer,  not  yet  accepted,  has  been  made  by  Bel- 
gium to  renew  negotiations  for  a  treaty  less  liberal  in  its 
provisions  on  questions  of  general  maritime  law. 

Our  newly  established  relations  with  the  Sublime  Porte 
promise  to  be  useful  to  our  commerce  and  satisfactory  in 
every  respect  to  this  Government.  Our  intercourse  with 
the  Barbary  Powers  continues  without  important  change, 
except  that  the  present  political  state  of  Algiers  has  in- 
duced me  to  terminate  the  residence  there  of  a  salaried  con- 
sul and  to  substitute  an  ordinary  consulate,  to  remain  so 
long  as  the  place  continues  in  the  possession  of  France.  Our 
first  treaty  with  one  of  these  powers,  the  Emperor  of  Mo- 
rocco, was  formed  in  1786,  and  was  limited  to  fifty  years. 
That  period  has  almost  expired.  I  shall  take  measures  to 
renew  it  with  the  greater  satisfaction  as  its  stipulations  are 
just  and  liberal  and  have  been,  with  mutual  fidelity  and  re- 
ciprocal advantage,  scrupulously  fulfilled. 

Intestine  dissensions  have  too  frequently  occurred  to  mar 
the  prosperity,  interrupt  the  commerce,  and  distract  the 
governments  of  most  of  the  nations  of  this  hemisphere 
which  have  separated  themselves  from  Spain.  When  a  firm 
and  permanent  understanding  wnth  the  parent  country  shall 
have  produced  a  formal  acknowledgment  of  their  independ- 
ence, and  the  idea  of  danger  from  that  quarter  can  be  no 
longer  entertained,  the  friends  of  freedom  expect  that  those 
countries,  so  favored  by  nature,  wnll  be  distinguished  for 
their  love  of  justice  and  their  devotion  to  those  peaceful 
arts  the  assiduous  cultivation  of  which  confers  honor  upon 
nations  and  gives  value  to  human  life.  In  the  meantime  I 
confidently  hope  that  the  apprehensions  entertained  that 
some  of  the  people  of  these  luxuriant  regions  may  be 
tempted,  in  a  moment  of  unworthy  distrust  of  their  own 
capacity  for  the  enjoyment  of  liberty,  to  commit  the  too 
common  error  of  purchasing  present  repose  by  bestowing 
on  some  favorite  leaders  the  fatal  gift  of  irresponsible  power 
will  not  be  realized.  With  all  these  Governments  and  with 
that  of  Brazil  no  unexpected  changes  in  our  relations  have 


Sixth   Annual   Message  3^5 

occurred  during  the  present  year.  Frequent  causes  of  just 
complaint  have  arisen  upon  the  part  of  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  sometimes  from  the  irregular  action  of  the 
constituted  subordinate  authorities  of  the  maritime  regions 
and  sometimes  from  the  leaders  of  partisans  of  those  in 
arms  against  the  established  Governments.  In  all  cases 
representations  have  been  or  will  be  made,  and  as  soon  as 
their  political  affairs  are  in  a  settled  position  it  is  expected 
that  our  friendly  remonstrances  will  be  followed  by  ade- 
quate redress. 

The  Government  of  Mexico  made  known  in  December 
last  the  appointment  of  commissioners  and  a  surveyor  on  its 
part  to  run,  in  conjunction  with  ours,  the  boundary  line  be- 
tween its  territories  and  the  United  States,  and  excused  the 
delay  for  the  reasons  anticipated — the  prevalence  of  civil 
war.  The  commissioners  and  surveyors  not  having  met 
within  the  time  stipulated  by  the  treaty,  a  new  arrangement 
became  necessary,  and  our  charge  d'affaires  was  instructed 
in  January  last  to  negotiate  in  Mexico  an  article  additional 
to  the  preexisting  treaty.  This  instruction  was  acknowl- 
edged, and  no  difficulty  was  apprehended  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  that  object.  By  information  just  received  that 
additional  article  to  the  treaty  will  be  obtained  and  trans- 
mitted to  this  country  as  soon  as  it  can  receive  the  ratification 
of  the  Mexican  Congress. 

The  reunion  of  the  three  States  of  New  Granada,  Ven- 
ezuela, and  Equador,  forming  the  Republic  of  Colombia, 
seems  every  day  to  become  more  improbable.  The  commis- 
sioners of  the  two  first  are  understood  to  be  now  negotiat- 
ing a  just  division  of  the  obligations  contracted  by  them 
when  united  under  one  government.  The  civil  war  in  Equa- 
dor, it  is  believed,  has  prevented  even  the  appointment  of  a 
commissioner  on  its  part. 

I  propose  at  an  early  date  to  submit,  in  the  proper  form, 
the  appointment  of  a  diplomatic  agent  to  Venezuela,  the  im- 
portance of  the  commerce  of  that  country  to  the  United 
States  and  the  large  claims  of  our  citizens  upon  the  Gov- 
ernment arising  before  and  since  the  division  of  Colombia 


3^6  Andrew  Jackson 

rendering  it,  in  my  judgment,  improper  longer  to  delay 
this  step. 

Our  representatives  to  Central  America,  Peru,  and  Bra- 
zil are  either  at  or  on  their  way  to  their  respective  posts. 

From  the  Argentine  Republic,  from  which  a  minister  was 
expected  to  this  Government,  nothing  further  has  been 
heard.  Occasion  has  been  taken  on  the  departure  of  a  new 
consul  to  Buenos  Ayres  to  remind  that  Government  that  its 
long-delayed  minister,  whose  appointment  had  been  made 
known  to  us,  had  not  arrived. 

It  becomes  my  unpleasant  duty  to  inform  you  that  this 
pacific  and  highly  gratifying  picture  of  our  foreign  rela- 
tions does  not  include  those  with  France  at  this  time.  It  is 
not  possible  that  any  Government  and  people  could  be  more 
sincerely  desirous  of  conciliating  a  just  and  friendly  inter- 
course with  another  nation  than  are  those  of  the  United 
States  with  their  ancient  ally  and  friend.  This  disposition 
is  founded  as  well  on  the  most  grateful  and  honorable  rec- 
ollections associated  with  our  struggle  for  independence  as 
upon  a  well-grounded  conviction  that  it  is  consonant  with 
the  true  policy  of  both.  The  people  of  the  United  States 
could  not,  therefore,  see  without  the  deepest  regret  even  a 
temporary  interruption  of  the  friendly  relations  between  the 
two  countries — a  regret  which  would,  I  am  sure,  be  greatly 
aggravated  if  there  should  turn  out  to  be  any  reasonable 
ground  for  attributing  such  a  result  to  any  act  of  omission 
or  commission  on  our  part.  I  derive,  therefore,  the  highest 
satisfaction  from  being  able  to  assure  you  that  the  whole 
course  of  this  Government  has  been  characterized  by  a  spirit 
so  conciliatory  and  forbearing  as  to  make  it  impossible  that 
our  justice  and  moderation  should  be  questioned,  whatever 
may  be  the  consequences  of  a  longer  perseverance  on  the 
part  of  the  French  Government  in  her  omission  to  satisfy 
the  conceded  claims  of  our  citizens. 

The  history  of  the  accumulated  and  unprovoked  aggres- 
sions upon  our  commerce  committed  by  authority  of  the 
existing  Governments  of  France  between  the  years  1800  and 
181 7  has  been  rendered  too  painfully  familiar  to  Ameri- 


Sixth  Annual  Message  3^7 

cans  to  make  its  repetition  either  necessary  or  desirable.  It 
will  be  sufficient  here  to  remark  that  there  has  for  many 
years  been  scarcely  a  single  administration  of  the  French 
Government  by  whom  the  justice  and  legality  of  the  claims 
of  our  citizens  to  indemnity  were  not  to  a  very  considerable 
extent  admitted,  and  yet  near  a  quarter  of  a  century  has 
been  wasted  in  ineffectual  negotiations  to  secure  it. 

Deeply  sensible  of  the  injurious  effects  resulting  from 
this  state  of  things  upon  the  interests  and  character  of  both 
nations,  I  regarded  it  as  among  my  first  duties  to  cause  one 
more  effort  to  be  made  to  satisfy  France  that  a  just  and 
liberal  settlement  of  our  claims  was  as  well  due  to  her  own 
honor  as  to  their  incontestable  validity.  The  negotiation 
for  this  purpose  was  commenced  with  the  late  Government 
of  France,  and  was  prosecuted  with  such  success  as  to  leave 
no  reasonable  ground  to  doubt  that  a  settlement  of  a  charac- 
ter quite  as  liberal  as  that  which  was  subsequently  made 
would  have  been  effected  had  not  the  revolution  by  which 
the  negotiation  was  cut  off  taken  place.  The  discussions 
were  resumed  with  the  present  Government,  and  the  result 
showed  that  we  were  not  wrong  in  supposing  that  an  event 
by  which  the  two  Governments  were  made  to  approach 
each  other  so  much  nearer  in  their  political  principles,  and 
by  which  the  motives  for  the  most  liberal  and  friendly  in- 
tercourse were  so  greatly  multiplied,  could  exercise  no  other 
than  a  salutary  influence  upon  the  negotiation.  After  the 
most  deliberate  and  thorough  examination  of  the  whole 
subject  a  treaty  between  the  two  Governments  was  con- 
cluded and  signed  at  Paris  on  the  4th  of  July,  1831,  by 
which  it  was  stipulated  that  "  the  French  Government,  in 
order  to  liberate  itself  from  all  the  reclamations  preferred 
against  it  by  citizens  of  the  United  States  for  unlawful 
seizures,  captures,  sequestrations,  confiscations,  or  destruc- 
tion of  their  vessels,  cargoes,  or  other  property,  engages  to 
pay  a  sum  of  25,000,000  francs  to  the  United  States,  who 
shall  distribute  it  among  those  entitled  in  the  manner  and 
according  to  the  rules  it  shall  determine;"  and  it  was  also 
stipulated  on  the  part  of  the  French  Government  that  this 


3^8  Andrew  Jackson 

25,000,000  francs  should  "  be  paid  at  Paris,  in  six  annual 
installments  of  4,166,666  francs  and  66  centimes  each,  into 
the  hands  of  such  person  or  persons  as  shall  be  authorized 
by  the  Government  of  the  United  States  to  receive  it,"  the 
first  installment  to  be  paid  "  at  the  expiration  of  one  year 
next  following  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications  of  this 
convention  and  the  others  at  successive  intervals  of  a  year, 
one  after  another,  till  the  whole  shall  be  paid.  To  the 
amount  of  each  of  the  said  installments  shall  be  added  in- 
terest at  4  per  cent  thereupon,  as  upon  the  other  installments 
then  remaining  unpaid,  the  said  interest  to  be  computed 
from  the  day  of  the  exchange  of  the  present  convention." 
It  was  also  stipulated  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  for 
the  purpose  of  being  completely  liberated  from  all  the  rec- 
lamations presented  by  France  on  behalf  of  its  citizens,  that 
the  sum  of  1,500,000  francs  should  be  paid  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  France  in  six  annual  installments,  to  be  deducted 
out  of  the  annual  sums  which  France  had  agreed  to  pay, 
interest  thereupon  being  in  like  manner  computed  from  the 
day  of  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications.  In  addition  to  this 
stipulation,  important  advantages  were  secured  to  France 
by  the  following  article,  viz. : 

The  wines  of  France,  from  and  after  the  exchange  of  the 
ratifications  of  the  present  convention,  shall  be  admitted  to 
consumption  in  the  States  of  the  Union  at  duties  which  shall 
not  exceed  the  following  rates  by  the  gallon  (such  as  it  is 
used  at  present  for  wines  in  the  United  States),  to  wit:  6 
cents  for  red  wines  in  casks;  10  cents  for  white  wines  in 
casks,  and  22  cents  for  wines  of  all  sorts  in  bottles.  The 
proportions  existing  between  the  duties  on  French  wines 
thus  reduced  and  the  general  rates  of  the  tariff  which  went 
into  operation  the  ist  January,  1829,  shall  be  maintained  in 
case  the  Government  of  the  United  States  should  think 
proper  to  diminish  those  general  rates  in  a  new  tariff. 

In  consideration  of  this  stipulation,  which  shall  be  binding 
on  the  United  States  for  ten  years,  the  French  Government 
abandons  the  reclamations  which  it  had  formed  in  relation 
to  the  eighth  article  of  the  treaty  of  cession  of  Louisiana. 


Sixth  Annual  Message  3^9 

It  engages,  moreover,  to  establish  on  the  long-staple  cottons 
of  the  United  States  which  after  the  exchange  of  the  ratifi- 
cations of  the  present  convention  shall  be  brought  directly 
thence  to  France  by  the  vessels  of  the  United  States  or  by 
French  vessels  the  same  duties  as  on  short-staple  cottons. 


This  treaty  was  duly  ratified  in  the  manner  prescribed  by 
the  constitutions  of  both  countries,  and  the  ratification  was 
exchanged  at  the  city  of  Washington  on  the  2d  of  Febru- 
ary, 1832.  On  account  of  its  commercial  stipulations  it 
was  in  five  days  thereafter  laid  before  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  which  proceeded  to  enact  such  laws  favor- 
able to  the  commerce  of  France  as  were  necessary  to  carry 
it  into  full  execution,  and  France  has  from  that  period  to 
the  present  been  in  the  unrestricted  enjoyment  of  the  valu- 
able privileges  that  were  thus  secured  to  her.  The  faith  of 
the  French  nation  having  been  thus  solemnly  pledged 
through  its  constitutional  organ  for  the  liquidation  and  ulti- 
mate payment  of  the  long-deferred  claims  of  our  citizens, 
as  also  for  the  adjustment  of  other  points  of  great  and  re- 
ciprocal benefits  to  both  countries,  and  the  United  States 
having,  with  a  fidelity  and  promptitude  by  which  their  con- 
duct will,  I  trust,  be  always  characterized,  done  everything 
that  was  necessary  to  carry  the  treaty  into  full  and  fair  ef- 
fect on  their  part,  counted  with  the  most  perfect  confidence 
on  equal  fidelity  and  promptitude  on  the  part  of  the  French 
Government.  In  this  reasonable  expectation  we  have  been, 
I  regret  to  inform  you,  wholly  disappointed.  No  legislative 
provision  has  been  made  by  France  for  the  execution  of  the 
treaty,  either  as  it  respects  the  indemnity  to  be  paid  or  the 
commercial  benefits  to  be  secured  to  the  United  States,  and 
the  relations  between  the  United  States  and  that  power  in 
consequence  thereof  are  placed  in  a  situation  threatening  to 
interrupt  the  good  understanding  which  has  so  long  and  so 
happily  existed  between  the  two  nations. 

Not  only  has  the  French  Government  been  thus  wanting 
in  the  performance  of  the  stipulations  it  has  so  solemnly  en- 
tered into  with  the  United  States,  but  its  omissions  have 


37°  Andrew  Jackson 

been  marked  by  circumstances  which  would  seem  to  leave  us 
without  satisfactory  evidences  that  such  performance  will 
certainly  take  place  at  a  future  period.  Advice  of  the  ex- 
change of  ratifications  reached  Paris  prior  to  the  8th  April, 
1832.  The  French  Chambers  were  then  sitting,  and  con- 
tinued in  session  until  the  21st  of  that  month,  and  although 
one  installment  of  the  indemnity  was  payable  on  the  2d 
of  February,  1833,  one  year  after  the  exchange  of  ratifica- 
tions, no  application  was  made  to  the  Chambers  for  the  re- 
quired appropriation,  and  in  consequence  of  no  appropria- 
tion having  then  been  made  the  draft  of  the  United  States 
Government  for  that  installment  was  dishonored  by  the 
minister  of  finance,  and  the  United  States  thereby  involved 
in  much  controversy.  The  next  session  of  the  Chambers 
commenced  on  the  19th  November,  1832,  and  continued 
until  the  25th  April,  1833.  Notwithstanding  the  omission 
to  pay  the  first  installment  had  been  made  the  subject  of 
earnest  remonstrance  on  our  part,  the  treaty  with  the 
United  States  and  a  bill  making  the  necessary  appropria- 
tions to  execute  it  were  not  laid  before  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies  until  the  6th  of  April,  nearly  five  months  after 
its  meeting,  and  only  nineteen  days  before  the  close  of  the 
session.  The  bill  was  read  and  referred  to  a  committee,  but 
there  was  no  further  action  upon  it.  The  next  session  of 
the  Chambers  commenced  on  the  26th  of  April,  1833,  and 
continued  until  the  26th  of  June  following.  A  new  bill  was 
introduced  on  the  nth  of  June,  but  nothing  important  was 
done  in  relation  to  it  during  the  session.  In  the  month  of 
April,  1834,  nearly  three  years  after  the  signature  of  the 
treaty,  the  final  action  of  the  French  Chambers  upon  the  bill 
to  carry  the  treaty  into  efifect  was  obtained,  and  resulted  in 
a  refusal  of  the  necessary  appropriations.  The  avowed 
grounds  upon  which  the  bill  was  rejected  are  to  be  found  in 
the  published  debates  of  that  body,  and  no  observations  of 
mine  can  be  necessary  to  satisfy  Congress  of  their  utter  in- 
sufficiency. Although  the  gross  amount  of  the  claims  of 
our  citizens  is  probably  greater  than  will  be  ultimately  al- 
lowed   by    the   commissioners,    sufficient    is,    nevertheless, 


Sixth   Annual  Message  37 ^ 

shown  to  render  it  absolutely  certain  that  the  indemnity  falls 
far  short  of  the  actual  amount  of  our  just  claims,  inde- 
pendently of  the  question  of  damages  and  interest  for  the 
detention.  That  the  settlement  involved  a  sacrifice  in  this 
respect  was  well  known  at  the  time — a  sacrifice  which  was 
cheerfully  acquiesced  in  by  the  different  branches  of  the 
Federal  Government,  whose  action  upon  the  treaty  was  re- 
quired from  a  sincere  desire  to  avoid  further  collision  upon 
this  old  and  disturbing  subject  and  in  the  confident  ex- 
pectation that  the  general  relations  between  the  two  coun- 
tries would  be  improved  thereby. 

The  refusal  to  vote  the  appropriation,  the  news  of  which 
was  received  from  our  minister  in  Paris  about  the  15th 
day  of  May  last,  might  have  been  considered  the  final  de- 
termination of  the  French  Government  not  to  execute  the 
stipulations  of  the  treaty,  and  would  have  justified  an  im- 
mediate communication  of  the  facts  to  Congress,  with  a 
recommendation  of  such  ultimate  measures  as  the  interest 
and  honor  of  the  United  States  might  seem  to  require.  But 
with  the  news  of  the  refusal  of  the  Chambers  to  make  the 
appropriation  were  conveyed  the  regrets  of  the  King  and  a 
declaration  that  a  national  vessel  should  be  forthwith  sent 
out  with  instructions  to  the  French  minister  to  give  the 
most  ample  explanations  of  the  past  and  the  strongest  as- 
surances for  the  future.  After  a  long  passage  the  promised 
dispatch  vessel  arrived.  The  pledges  given  by  the  French 
minister  upon  receipt  of  his  instructions  were  that  as  soon 
after  the  election  of  the  new  members  as  the  charter  would 
permit  the  legislative  Chambers  of  France  should  be  called 
together  and  the  proposition  for  an  appropriation  laid  be- 
fore them ;  that  all  the  constitutional  powers  of  the  King 
and  his  cabinet  should  be  exerted  to  accomplish  the  object, 
and  that  the  result  should  be  made  known  early  enough  to 
be  communicated  to  Congress  at  the  commencement  of  the 
present  session.  Relying  upon  these  pledges,  and  not  doubt- 
ing that  the  acknowledged  justice  of  our  claims,  the  prom- 
ised exertions  of  the  King  and  his  cabinet,  and,  above  all, 
that  sacred  regard  for  the  national  faith  and  honor   for 


372  Andrew  Jackson 

which  the  French  character  has  been  so  distinguished  would 
secure  an  early  execution  of  the  treaty  in  all  its  parts,  I 
did  not  deem  it  necessary  to  call  the  attention  of  Congress 
to  the  subject  at  the  last  session. 

I  regret  to  say  that  the  pledges  made  through  the  min- 
ister of  France  have  not  been  redeemed.  The  new  Cham- 
bers met  on  the  31st  July  last,  and  although  the  subject  of 
fulfilling  treaties  was  alluded  to  in  the  speech  from  the 
throne,  no  attempt  was  made  by  the  King  or  his  cabinet  to 
procure  an  appropriation  to  carry  it  into  execution.  The 
reasons  given  for  this  omission,  although  they  might  be  con- 
sidered sufficient  in  an  ordinary  case,  are  not  consistent  with 
the  expectations  founded  upon  the  assurances  given  here, 
for  there  is  no  constitutional  obstacle  to  entering  into  leg- 
islative business  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Chambers.  This 
point,  however,  might  have  been  overlooked  had  not  the 
Chambers,  instead  of  being  called  to  meet  at  so  early  a  day 
that  the  result  of  their  deliberations  might  be  communi- 
cated to  me  before  the  meeting  of  Congress,  been  prorogued 
to  the  29th  of  the  present  month — a  period  so  late  that  their 
decision  can  scarcely  be  made  known  to  the  present  Con- 
gress prior  to  its  dissolution.  To  avoid  this  delay  our  min- 
ister in  Paris,  in  virtue  of  the  assurance  given  by  the  French 
minister  in  the  United  States,  strongly  urged  the  convoca- 
tion of  the  Chambers  at  an  earlier  day,  but  without  success. 
It  is  proper  to  remark,  however,  that  this  refusal  has  been 
accompanied  with  the  most  positive  assurances  on  the  part 
of  the  executive  government  of  France  of  their  intention  to 
press  the  appropriation  at  the  ensuing  session  of  the  Cham- 
bers, 

The  executive  branch  of  this  Government  has,  as  matters 
stand,  exhausted  all  the  authority  upon  the  subject  with 
which  it  is  invested  and  which  it  had  any  reason  to  believe 
could  be  beneficially  employed. 

The  idea  of  acquiescing  in  the  refusal  to  execute  the 
treaty  will  not,  I  am  confident,  be  for  a  moment  entertained 
by  any  branch  of  this  Government,  and  further  negotiation 
upon  the  subject  is  equally  out  of  the  question. 


Sixth  Annual  Message  373 

If  it  shall  be  the  pleasure  of  Congress  to  await  the  further 
action  of  the  French  Chambers,  no  further  consideration  of 
the  subject  will  at  this  session  probably  be  required  at  your 
hands.  But  if  from  the  original  delay  in  asking  for  an  ap- 
propriation, from  the  refusal  of  the  Chambers  to  grant  it 
when  asked,  from  the  omission  to  bring  the  subject  before 
the  Chambers  at  their  last  session,  from  the  fact  that,  in- 
cluding that  session,  there  have  been  five  different  occasions 
when  the  appropriation  might  have  been  made,  and  from 
the  delay  in  convoking  the  Chambers  until  some  weeks 
after  the  meeting  of  Congress,  when  it  was  well  known  that 
a  communication  of  the  whole  subject  to  Congress  at  the 
last  session  was  prevented  by  assurances  that  it  should  be 
disposed  of  before  its  present  meeting,  you  should  feel  your- 
selves constrained  to  doubt  whether  it  be  the  intention  of 
the  French  Government,  in  all  its  branches,  to  carry  the 
treaty  into  effect,  and  think  that  such  measures  as  the  oc- 
casion may  be  deemed  to  call  for  should  be  now  adopted, 
the  important  question  arises  what  those  measures  shall  be. 

Our  institutions  are  essentially  pacific.  Peace  and 
friendly  intercourse  with  all  nations  are  as  much  the  desire 
of  our  Government  as  they  are  the  interest  of  our  people. 
But  these  objects  are  not  to  be  permanently  secured  by  sur- 
rendering the  rights  of  our  citizens  or  permitting  solemn 
treaties  for  their  indemnity,  in  cases  of  flagrant  wrong,  to  be 
abrogated  or  set  aside. 

It  is  undoubtedly  in  the  power  of  Congress  seriously  to 
affect  the  agricultural  and  manufacturing  interests  of  France 
by  the  passage  of  laws  relating  to  her  trade  with  the  United 
States.  Her  products,  manufactures,  and  tonnage  may  be 
subjected  to  heavy  duties  in  our  ports,  or  all  commercial 
intercourse  with  her  may  be  suspended.  But  there  are  pow- 
erful and  to  my  mind  conclusive  objections  to  this  mode  of 
proceeding.  We  can  not  embarrass  or  cut  off  the  trade  of 
France  without  at  the  same  time  in  some  degree  embar- 
rassing or  cutting  off  our  own  trade.  The  injury  of  such  a 
warfare  must  fall,  though  unequally,  upon  our  own  citizens, 
and  could  not  but  impair  the  means  of  the  Government  and 


374  Andrew  Jackson 


weaken  that  united  sentiment  in  support  of  the  rights  and 
honor  of  the  nation  which  must  now  pervade  every  bosom. 
Nor  is  it  impossible  that  such  a  course  of  legislation  would 
introduce  once  more  into  our  national  councils  those  dis- 
turbing questions  in  relation  to  the  tariff  of  duties  which 
have  been  so  recently  put  to  rest.  Besides,  by  every  meas- 
ure adopted  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States  with 
the  view  of  injuring  France  the  clear  perception  of  right 
which  will  induce  our  own  people  and  the  rulers  and  people 
of  all  other  nations,  even  of  France  herself,  to  pronounce 
our  quarrel  just  will  be  obscured  and  the  support  rendered  to 
us  in  a  final  resort  to  more  decisive  measures  will  be  more 
limited  and  equivocal.  There  is  but  one  point  in  the  con- 
troversy, and  upon  that  the  whole  civilized  world  must  pro- 
nounce France  to  be  in  the  wrong.  We  insist  that  she  shall 
pay  us  a  sum  of  money  which  she  has  acknowledged  to  be 
due,  and  of  the  justice  of  this  demand  there  can  be  but 
one  opinion  among  mankind.  True  policy  would  seem  to 
dictate  that  the  question  at  issue  should  be  kept  thus  dis- 
encumbered and  that  not  the  slightest  pretense  should  be 
given  to  France  to  persist  in  her  refusal  to  make  payment 
by  any  act  on  our  part  affecting  the  interests  of  her  people. 
The  question  should  be  left,  as  it  is  now,  in  such  an  atti- 
tude that  when  France  fulfills  her  treaty  stipulations  all 
controversy  will  be  at  an  end. 

It  is  my  conviction  that  the  United  States  ought  to  in- 
sist on  a  prompt  execution  of  the  treaty,  and  in  case  it  be 
refused  or  longer  delayed  take  redress  into  their  own  hands. 
After  the  delay  on  the  part  of  France  of  a  quarter  of  a 
century  in  acknowledging  these  claims  by  treaty,  it  is  not  to 
be  tolerated  that  another  quarter  of  a  century  is  to  be  wasted 
in  negotiating  about  the  payment.  The  laws  of  nations  pro- 
vide a  remedy  for  such  occasions.  It  is  a  well-settled  prin- 
ciple of  the  international  code  that  where  one  nation  owes 
another  a  liquidated  debt  which  it  refuses  or  neglects  to  pay 
the  aggrieved  party  may  seize  on  the  property  belonging 
to  the  other,  its  citizens  or  subjects,  sufficient  to  pay  the 
debt  without  giving  just  cause  of  war.     This  remedy  has 


Sixth  Annual  Message  375 

been  repeatedly  resorted  to,  and  recently  by  France  her- 
self toward  Portugal,  under  circumstances  less  unquestion- 
able. 

The  time  at  which  resort  should  be  had  to  this  or  any 
other  mode  of  redress  is  a  point  to  be  decided  by  Congress. 
If  an  appropriation  shall  not  be  made  by  the  French  Cham- 
bers at  their  next  session,  it  may  justly  be  concluded  that 
the  Government  of  France  has  finally  determined  to  disre- 
gard its  own  solemn  undertaking  and  refuse  to  pay  an  ac- 
knowledged debt.  In  that  event  every  day's  delay  on  our 
part  will  be  a  stain  upon  our  national  honor,  as  well  as  a 
denial  of  justice  to  our  injured  citizens.  Prompt  measures, 
when  the  refusal  of  France  shall  be  complete,  will  not  only 
be  most  honorable  and  just,  but  will  have  the  best  effect 
upon  our  national  character. 

Since  France,  in  violation  of  the  pledges  given  through 
her  minister  here,  has  delayed  her  final  action  so  long  that 
her  decision  will  not  probably  be  known  in  time  to  be  com- 
municated to  this  Congress,  I  recommend  that  a  law  be 
passed  authorizing  reprisals  upon  French  property  in  case 
provision  shall  not  be  made  for  the  payment  of  the  debt  at 
the  approaching  session  of  the  French  Chambers.  Such  a 
measure  ought  not  to  be  considered  by  France  as  a  menace. 
Her  pride  and  power  are  too  well  known  to  expect  any- 
thing from  her  fears  and  preclude  the  necessity  of  a  declara- 
tion that  nothing  partaking  of  the  character  of  intimidation 
is  intended  by  us.  She  ought  to  look  upon  it  as  the  evi- 
dence only  of  an  inflexible  determination  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States  to  insist  on  their  rights.  That  Government, 
by  doing  only  what  it  has  itself  acknowledged  to  be  just, 
will  be  able  to  spare  the  United  States  the  necessity  of 
taking  redress  into  their  own  hands  and  save  the  property 
of  French  citizens  from  that  seizure  and  sequestration  which 
American  citizens  so  long  endured  without  retaliation  or 
redress.  If  she  should  continue  to  refuse  that  act  of  ac- 
knowledged justice  and,  in  violation  of  the  law  of  nations, 
make  reprisals  on  our  part  the  occasion  of  hostilities  against 
the  United  States,  she  would  but  add  violence  to  injustice, 


37^  Andrew  Jackson 

and  could  not  fail  to  expose  herself  to  the  just  censure  of 
civilized  nations  and  to  the  retributive  judgments  of 
Heaven. 

Collision  with  France  is  the  more  to  be  regretted  on  ac- 
count of  the  position  she  occupies  in  Europe  in  relation  to 
liberal  institutions,  but  in  maintaining  our  national  rights 
and  honor  all  governments  are  alike  to  us.  If  by  a  collision 
with  France  in  a  case  where  she  is  clearly  in  the  wrong 
the  march  of  liberal  principles  shall  be  impeded,  the  re- 
sponsibility for  that  result  as  well  as  every  other  will  rest 
on  her  own  head. 

Having  submitted  these  considerations,  it  belongs  to 
Congress  to  decide  whether  after  what  has  taken  place  it 
will  still  await  the  further  action  of  the  French  Chambers 
or  now  adopt  such  provisional  measures  as  it  may  deem 
necessary  and  best  adapted  to  protect  the  rights  and  main- 
tain the  honor  of  the  country.  Whatever  that  decision  may 
be,  it  will  be  faithfully  enforced  by  the  Executive  as  far  as 
he  is  authorized  so  to  do. 

According  to  the  estimate  of  the  Treasury  Department, 
the  revenue  accruing  from  all  sources  during  the  present 
year  will  amount  to  $20,624,717,  which,  with  the  balance 
remaining  in  the  Treasury  on  the  ist  of  January  last  of 
$11,702,905,  produces  an  aggregate  of  $32,327,623.  The 
total  expenditure  during  the  year  for  all  objects,  including 
the  public  debt,  is  estimated  at  $25,591,390,  which  will  leave 
a  balance  in  the  Treasury  on  the  ist  of  January,  1835,  of 
$6,736,232.  In  this  balance,  however,  will  be  included 
about  $1,150,000  of  what  was  heretofore  reported  by  the 
Department  as  not  effective. 

Of  former  appropriations  it  is  estimated  that  there  will 
remain  unexpended  at  the  close  of  the  year  $8,002,925,  and 
that  of  this  sum  there  will  not  be  required  more  than  $5,- 
141,964  to  accomplish  the  objects  of  all  the  current  appro- 
priations. Thus  it  appears  that  after  satisfying  all  those 
appropriations  and  after  discharging  the  last  item  of  our 
public  debt,  which  will  be  done  on  the  ist  of  January  next, 
there  will  remain  unexpended  in  the  Treasury  an  effective 


Sixth  Annual  Message  377 

balance  of  about  $440,000.  That  such  should  be  the  aspect 
of  our  finances  is  highly  flattering  to  the  industry  and  enter- 
prise of  our  population  and  auspicious  of  the  wealth  and 
prosperity  which  await  the  future  cultivation  of  their  grow- 
ing resources.  It  is  not  deemed  prudent,  however,  to  rec- 
ommend any  change  for  the  present  in  our  impost  rates, 
the  effect  of  the  gradual  reduction  now  in  progress  in  many 
of  them  not  being  sufficiently  tested  to  guide  us  in  deter- 
mining the  precise  amount  of  revenue  which  they  will  pro- 
duce. 

Free  from  public  debt,  at  peace  with  all  the  world,  and 
with  no  complicated  interests  to  consult  in  our  intercourse 
with  foreign  powers,  the  present  may  be  hailed  as  the  epoch 
in  our  history  the  most  favorable  for  the  settlement  of  those 
principles  in  our  domestic  policy  which  shall  be  best  cal- 
culated to  give  stability  to  our  Republic  and  secure  the 
blessings  of  freedom  to  our  citizens. 

Among  these  principles,  from  our  past  experience,  it  can 
not  be  doubted  that  simplicity  in  the  character  of  the  Fed- 
eral Government  and  a  rigid  economy  in  its  administra- 
tion should  be  regarded  as  fundamental  and  sacred.  All 
must  be  sensible  that  the  existence  of  the  public  debt,  by 
rendering  taxation  necessary  for  its  extinguishment,  has 
increased  the  difficulties  which  are  inseparable  from  every 
exercise  of  the  taxing  power,  and  that  it  was  in  this  respect 
a  remote  agent  in  producing  those  disturbing  questions 
which  grew  out  of  the  discussions  relating  to  the  tariff. 
If  such  has  been  the  tendency  of  a  debt  incurred  in  the  ac- 
quisition and  maintenance  of  our  national  rights  and  lib- 
erties, the  obligations  of  which  all  portions  of  the  Union 
cheerfully  acknowledged,  it  must  be  obvious  that  whatever 
is  calculated  to  increase  the  burdens  of  Government  without 
necessity  must  be  fatal  to  all  our  hopes  of  preserving  its 
true  character.  While  we  are  felicitating  ourselves,  there- 
fore, upon  the  extinguishment  of  the  national  debt  and  the 
prosperous  state  of  our  finances,  let  us  not  be  tempted  to 
depart  from  those  sound  maxims  of  public  policy  which  en- 
join a  just  adaptation  of  the  revenue  to  the  expenditures 


37^  Andrew  Jackson 

that  are  consistent  with  a  rigid  economy  and  an  entire  ab- 
stinence from  all  topics  of  legislation  that  are  not  clearly 
within  the  constitutional  powers  of  the  Government  and 
suggested  by  the  wants  of  the  country.  Properly  regarded 
under  such  a  policy,  every  diminution  of  the  public  burdens 
arising  from  taxation  gives  to  individual  enterprise  in- 
creased power  and  furnishes  to  all  the  members  of  our 
happy  Confederacy  new  motives  for  patriotic  affection  and 
support.  But  above  all,  its  most  important  effect  will  be 
found  in  its  influence  upon  the  character  of  the  Government 
by  confining  its  action  to  those  objects  which  will  be  sure  to 
secure  to  it  the  attachment  and  support  of  our  fellow- 
citizens. 

Circumstances  make  it  my  duty  to  call  the  attention  of 
Congress  to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  Created  for  the 
convenience  of  the  Government,  that  institution  has  become 
the  scourge  of  the  people.  Its  interference  to  postpone  the 
payment  of  a  portion  of  the  national  debt  that  it  might  re- 
tain the  public  money  appropriated  for  that  purpose  to 
strengthen  it  in  a  political  contest,  the  extraordinary  exten- 
sion and  contraction  of  its  accommodations  to  the  commu- 
nity, its  corrupt  and  partisan  loans,  its  exclusion  of  the 
public  directors  from  a  knowledge  of  its  most  important 
proceedings,  the  unlimited  authority  conferred  on  the  presi- 
dent to  expend  its  funds  in  hiring  writers  and  procuring 
the  execution  of  printing,  and  the  use  made  of  that  author- 
ity, the  retention  of  the  pension  money  and  books  after  the 
selection  of  new  agents,  the  groundless  claim  to  heavy  dam- 
ages in  consequence  of  the  protest  of  the  bill  drawn  on  the 
French  Government,  have  through  various  channels  been 
laid  before  Congress.  Immediately  after  the  close  of  the 
last  session  the  bank,  through  its  president,  announced  its 
ability  and  readiness  to  abandon  the  system  of  unparalleled 
curtailment  and  the  interruption  of  domestic  exchanges 
which  it  had  practiced  upon  from  the  ist  of  August,  1833, 
to  the  30th  of  June,  1834,  and  to  extend  its  accommodations 
to  the  community.  The  grounds  assumed  in  this  annuncia- 
tion amounted  to  an  acknowledgment  that  the  curtailment, 


Sixth  Annual  Message  379 

in  the  extent  to  which  it  had  been  carried,  was  not  neces- 
sary to  the  safety  of  the  bank,  and  had  been  persisted  in 
merely  to  induce  Congress  to  grant  the  prayer  of  the  bank 
in  its  memorial  relative  to  the  removal  of  the  deposits  and 
to  give  it  a  new  charter.  They  were  substantially  a  con- 
fession that  all  the  real  distresses  which  individuals  and 
the  country  had  endured  for  the  preceding  six  or  eight 
months  had  been  needlessly  produced  by  it,  with  the  view  of 
affecting  through  the  sufferings  of  the  people  the  legislative 
action  of  Congress.  It  is  a  subject  of  congratulation  that 
Congress  and  the  country  had  the  virtue  and  firmness  to 
bear  the  infliction,  that  the  energies  of  our  people  soon 
found  relief  from  this  wanton  tyranny  in  vast  importations 
of  the  precious  metals  from  almost  every  part  of  the  world, 
and  that  at  the  close  of  this  tremendous  effort  to  control 
our  Government  the  bank  found  itself  powerless  and  lio 
longer  able  to  loan  out  its  surplus  means.  The  community 
had  learned  to  manage  its  affairs  without  its  assistance,  and 
trade  had  already  found  new  auxiliaries,  so  that  on  the  ist 
of  October  last  the  extraordinary  spectacle  was  presented  of 
a  national  bank  more  than  one-half  of  whose  capital  was 
either  lying  unproductive  in  its  vaults  or  in  the  hands  of 
foreign  bankers. 

To  the  needless  distresses  brought  on  the  country  during 
the  last  session  of  Congress  has  since  been  added  the  open 
seizure  of  the  dividends  on  the  public  stock  to  the  amount 
of  $170,041,  under  pretense  of  paying  damages,  cost,  and 
interest  upon  the  protested  French  bill.  This  sum  consti- 
tuted a  portion  of  the  estimated  revenues  for  the  year  1834, 
upon  which  the  appropriations  made  by  Congress  were 
based.  It  would  as  soon  have  been  expected  that  our  collec- 
tors would  seize  on  the  customs  or  the  receivers  of  our  land 
offices  on  the  moneys  arising  from  the  sale  of  public  lands 
under  pretenses  of  claims  against  the  United  States  as  that 
the  bank  would  have  retained  the  dividends.  Indeed,  if  the 
principle  be  established  that  anyone  who  chooses  to  set  up 
a  claim  against  the  United  States  may  without  authority 
of  law  seize  on  the  public  property  or  money  wherever  he 


3^0  Andrew  Jackson 

can  find  it  to  pay  such  claim,  there  will  remain  no  assurance 
that  our  revenue  will  reach  the  Treasury  or  that  it  will  be 
applied  after  the  appropriation  to  the  purposes  designated  in 
the  law.  The  paymasters  of  our  Army  and  the  pursers  of 
our  Navy  may  under  like  pretenses  apply  to  their  own  use 
moneys  appropriated  to  set  in  motion  the  public  force,  and 
in  time  of  war  leave  the  country  without  defense.  This 
measure  resorted  to  by  the  bank  is  disorganizing  and  rev- 
olutionary, and  if  generally  resorted  to  by  private  citizens 
in  like  cases  would  fill  the  land  with  anarchy  and  violence. 

It  is  a  constitutional  provision  "  that  no  money  shall  be 
drawn  from  the  Treasury  but  in  consequence  of  appropri- 
ations made  by  law."  The  palpable  object  of  this  provision 
is  to  prevent  the  expenditure  of  the  public  money  for  any 
purpose  whatsoever  which  shall  not  have  been  first  approved 
by  the  representatives  of  the  people  and  the  States  in  Con- 
gress assembled.  It  vests  the  power  of  declaring  for  what 
purposes  the  public  money  shall  be  expended  in  the  legis- 
lative department  of  the  Government,  to  the  exclusion  of 
the  executive  and  judicial,  and  it  is  not  within  the  consti- 
tutional authority  of  either  of  those  departments  to  pay  it 
away  without  law  or  to  sanction  its  payment.  According 
to  this  plain  constitutional  provision,  the  claim  of  the  bank 
can  never  be  paid  without  an  appropriation  by  act  of  Con- 
gress. But  the  bank  has  never  asked  for  an  appropriation. 
It  attempts  to  defeat  the  provision  of  the  Constitution  and 
obtain  payment  without  an  act  of  Congress.  Instead  of 
awaiting  an  appropriation  passed  by  both  Houses  and  ap- 
proved by  the  President,  it  makes  an  appropriation  for  it- 
self and  invites  an  appeal  to  the  judiciary  to  sanction  it. 
That  the  money  had  not  technically  been  paid  into  the 
Treasury  does  not  aflfect  the  principle  intended  to  be  estab- 
lished by  the  Constitution.  The  Executive  and  the  judiciary 
have  as  little  right  to  appropriate  and  expend  the  public 
money  without  authority  of  law  before  it  is  placed  to  the 
credit  of  the  Treasury  as  to  take  it  from  the  Treasury.  In 
the  annual  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  in 
his  correspondence  with  the  president  of  the  bank,  and  the 


Sixth  Annual  Message  381 

opinions  of  the  Attorney-General  accompanying  it,  you  will 
find  a  further  examination  of  the  claims  of  the  bank  and  the 
course  it  has  pursued. 

It  seems  due  to  the  safety  of  the  public  funds  remaining 
in  that  bank  and  to  the  honor  of  the  American  people  that 
measures  be  taken  to  separate  the  Government  entirely  from 
an  institution  so  mischievous  to  the  public  prosperity  and 
so  regardless  of  the  Constitution  and  laws.  By  transfer- 
ring the  public  deposits,  by  appointing  other  pension  agents 
as  far  as  it  had  the  power,  by  ordering  the  discontinuance  of 
the  receipt  of  bank  checks  in  the  payment  of  the  public  dues 
after  the  ist  day  of  January,  the  Executive  has  exerted  all 
its  lawful  authority  to  sever  the  connection  between  the 
Government  and  this  faithless  corporation. 

The  high-handed  career  of  this  institution  imposes  upon 
the  constitutional  functionaries  of  this  Government  duties 
of  the  gravest  and  most  imperative  character — duties  which 
they  can  not  avoid  and  from  which  I  trust  there  will  be  no 
inclination  on  the  part  of  any  of  them  to  shrink.  My  own 
sense  of  them  is  most  clear,  as  is  also  my  readiness  to  dis- 
charge those  which  may  rightfully  fall  on  me.  To  continue 
any  business  relations  with  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
that  may  be  avoided  without  a  violation  of  the  national  faith 
after  that  institution  has  set  at  open  defiance  the  conceded 
right  of  the  Government  to  examine  its  affairs,  after  it  has 
done  all  in  its  power  to  deride  the  public  authority  in  other 
respects  and  to  bring  it  into  disrepute  at  home  and  abroad, 
after  it  has  attempted  to  defeat  the  clearly  expressed  will  of 
the  people  by  turning  against  them  the  immense  power  in- 
trusted to  its  hands  and  by  involving  a  country  otherwise 
peaceful,  flourishing,  and  happy,  in  dissension,  embarrass- 
ment, and  distress,  would  make  the  nation  itself  a  party  to 
the  degradation  so  sedulously  prepared  for  its  public  agents 
and  do  much  to  destroy  the  confidence  of  mankind  in  popu- 
lar governments  and  to  bring  into  contempt  their  authority 
and  efficiency.  In  guarding  against  an  evil  of  such  magni- 
tude considerations  of  temporary  convenience  should  be 
thrown  out  of  the  question,  and  we  should  be  influenced  by 


3^2  Andrew  Jackson 

such  motives  only  as  look  to  the  honor  and  preservation  of 
the  republican  system.  Deeply  and  solemnly  impressed  with 
the  justice  of  these  views,  I  feel  it  to  be  my  duty  to  recom- 
mend to  you  that  a  law  be  passed  authorizing  the  sale  of  the 
public  stock ;  that  the  provision  of  the  charter  requiring  the 
receipt  of  notes  of  the  bank  in  payment  of  public  dues  shall, 
in  accordance  with  the  power  reserved  to  Congress  in  the 
fourteenth  section  of  the  charter,  be  suspended  until  the  bank 
pays  to  the  Treasury  the  dividends  withheld,  and  that  all 
laws  connecting  the  Government  or  its  officers  with  the  bank, 
directly  or  indirectly,  be  repealed,  and  that  the  institution  be 
left  hereafter  to  its  own  resources  and  means. 

Events  have  satisfied  my  mind,  and  I  think  the  minds  of 
the  American  people,  that  the  mischiefs  and  dangers  which 
flow  from  a  national  bank  far  overbalance  all  its  advantages. 
The  bold  effort  the  present  bank  has  made  to  control  the 
Government,  the  distresses  it  has  wantonly  produced,  the 
violence  of  which  it  has  been  the  occasion  in  one  of  our 
cities  famed  for  its  observance  of  law  and  order,  are  but 
premonitions  of  the  fate  which  awaits  the  American  people 
should  they  be  deluded  into  a  perpetuation  of  this  institution 
or  the  establishment  of  another  like  it.  It  is  fervently  hoped 
that  thus  admonished  those  who  have  heretofore  favored  the 
establishment  of  a  substitute  for  the  present  bank  will  be 
induced  to  abandon  it,  as  it  is  evidently  better  to  incur  any 
inconvenience  that  may  be  reasonably  expected  than  to  con- 
centrate the  whole  moneyed  power  of  the  Republic  in  any 
form  whatsoever  or  under  any  restrictions. 

Happily  it  is  already  illustrated  that  the  agency  of  such 
an  institution  is  not  necessary  to  the  fiscal  operations  of  the 
Government.  The  State  banks  are  found  fully  adequate  to 
the  performance  of  all  services  which  were  required  of  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  quite  as  promptly  and  with  the 
same  cheapness.  They  have  maintained  themselves  and  dis- 
charged all  these  duties  while  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
was  still  powerful  and  in  the  field  as  an  open  enemy,  and  it 
is  not  possible  to  conceive  that  they  will  find  greater  difficul- 
ties in  their  operations  when  that  enemy  shall  cease  to  exist. 


sixth  Annual  Message  3^3 

The  attention  of  Congress  is  earnestly  invited  to  the  regu- 
lation of  the  deposits  in  the  State  banks  by  law.  Although 
the  power  now  exercised  by  the  executive  department  in  this 
behalf  is  only  such  as  was  uniformly  exerted  through  every 
Administration  from  the  origin  of  the  Government  up  to 
the  establishment  of  the  present  bank,  yet  it  is  one  which  is 
susceptible  of  regulation  by  law,  and  therefore  ought  so  to 
be  regulated.  The  power  of  Congress  to  direct  in  what 
places  the  Treasurer  shall  keep  the  moneys  in  the  Treasury 
and  to  impose  restrictions  upon  the  Executive  authority  in 
relation  to  their  custody  and  removal  is  unlimited,  and  its 
exercise  will  rather  be  courted  than  discouraged  by  those 
public  officers  and  agents  on  whom  rests  the  responsibility 
for  their  safety.  It  is  desirable  that  as  little  power  as  pos- 
sible should  be  left  to  the  President  or  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  over  those  institutions,  which,  being  thus  freed 
from  Executive  influence,  and  without  a  common  head  to 
direct  their  operations,  would  have  neither  the  temptation 
nor  the  ability  to  interfere  in  the  political  conflicts  of  the 
country.  Not  deriving  their  charters  from  the  national  au- 
thorities, they  would  never  have  those  inducements  to  med- 
dle in  general  elections  which  have  led  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  to  agitate  and  convulse  the  country  for  up- 
ward of  two  years. 

The  progress  of  our  gold  coinage  is  creditable  to  the  offi- 
cers of  the  Mint,  and  promises  in  a  short  period  to  furnish 
the  country  with  a  sound  and  portable  currency,  which  will 
much  diminish  the  inconvenience  to  travelers  of  the  want  of 
a  general  paper  currency  should  the  State  banks  be  incapable 
of  furnishing  it.  Those  institutions  have  already  shown 
themselves  competent  to  purchase  and  furnish  domestic  ex- 
change for  the  convenience  of  trade  at  reasonable  rates,  and 
not  a  doubt  is  entertained  that  in  a  short  period  all  the  wants 
of  the  country  in  bank  accommodations  and  exchange  will 
be  supplied  as  promptly  and  as  cheaply  as  they  have  hereto- 
fore been  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  If  the  several 
States  shall  be  induced  gradually  to  reform  their  banking 
systems  and  prohibit  the  issue  of  all  small  notes,  we  shall  in 


3^4  Andrew  Jackson 

a  few  years  have  a  currency  as  sound  and  as  little  liable  to 
fluctuations  as  any  other  commercial  country. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  together  with  the 
accompanying  documents  from  the  several  bureaus  of  that 
Department,  will  exhibit  the  situation  of  the  various  objects 
committed  to  its  administration. 

No  event  has  occurred  since  your  last  session  rendering 
necessary  any  movements  of  the  Army,  with  the  exception 
of  the  expedition  of  the  regiment  of  dragoons  into  the  terri- 
tory of  the  wandering  and  predatory  tribes  inhabiting  the 
western  frontier  and  living  adjacent  to  the  Mexican  bound- 
ary. These  tribes  have  been  heretofore  known  to  us  prin- 
cipally by  their  attacks  upon  our  own  citizens  and  upon  other 
Indians  entitled  to  the  protection  of  the  United  States.  It 
became  necessary  for  the  peace  of  the  frontiers  to  check 
these  habitual  inroads,  and  I  am  happy  to  inform  you  that 
the  object  has  been  effected  without  the  commission  of  any 
act  of  hostility.  Colonel  Dodge  and  the  troops  under  his 
command  have  acted  with  equal  firmness  and  humanity,  and 
an  arrangement  has  been  made  with  those  Indians  which  it 
is  hoped  will  assure  their  permanent  pacific  relations  with 
the  United  States  and  the  other  tribes  of  Indians  upon  that 
border.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  prevalence  of  sickness 
in  that  quarter  has  deprived  the  country  of  a  number  of 
valuable  lives,  and  particularly  that  General  Leavenworth, 
an  officer  well  known,  and  esteemed  for  his  gallant  services 
in  the  late  war  and  for  his  subsequent  good  conduct,  has 
fallen  a  victim  to  his  zeal  and  exertions  in  the  discharge  of 
his  duty. 

The  Army  is  in  a  high  state  of  discipline.  Its  moral  con- 
dition, so  far  as  that  is  known  here,  is  good,  and  the  various 
branches  of  the  public  service  are  carefully  attended  to.  It 
is  amply  sufficient  under  the  present  organization  for  pro- 
viding the  necessary  garrisons  for  the  seaboard  and  for  the 
defense  of  the  internal  frontier,  and  also  for  preserving  the 
elements  of  military  knowledge  and  for  keeping  pace  with 
those  impovements  which  modern  experience  is  continually 
making.    And  these  objects  appear  to  me  to  embrace  all  the 


Sixth  Annual  Message  3^5 

legitimate  purposes  for  which  a  permanent  mihtary  force 
should  be  maintained  in  our  country.  The  lessons  of  history 
teach  us  its  danger  and  the  tendency  which  exists  to  an  in- 
crease. This  can  be  best  met  and  averted  by  a  just  caution 
on  the  part  of  the  public  itself,  and  of  those  who  represent 
them  in  Congress. 

From  the  duties  which  devolve  on  the  Engineer  Depart- 
ment and  upon  the  topographical  engineers,  a  different  or- 
ganization seems  to  be  demanded  by  the  public  interest,  and 
I  recommend  the  subject  to  your  consideration. 

No  important  change  has  during  this  season  taken  place 
in  the  condition  of  the  Indians.  Arrangements  are  in 
progress  for  the  removal  of  the  Creeks,  and  will  soon  be  for 
the  removal  of  the  Seminoles.  I  regret  that  the  Cherokees 
east  of  the  Mississippi  have  not  yet  determined  as  a  com- 
munity to  remove.  How  long  the  personal  causes  which 
have  heretofore  retarded  that  ultimately  inevitable  measure 
will  continue  to  operate  I  am  unable  to  conjecture.  It  is 
certain,  however,  that  delay  will  bring  with  it  accumulated 
evils  which  will  render  their  condition  more  and  more  un- 
pleasant. The  experience  of  every  year  adds  to  the  convic- 
tion that  emigration,  and  that  alone,  can  preserve  from 
destruction  the  remnant  of  the  tribes  yet  living  amongst  us. 
The  facility  with  which  the  necessaries  of  life  are  procured 
and  the  treaty  stipulations  providing  aid  for  the  emigrant 
Indians  in  their  agricultural  pursuits  and  in  the  important 
concern  of  education,  and  their  removal  from  those  causes 
which  have  heretofore  depressed  all  and  destroyed  many  of 
the  tribes,  can  not  fail  to  stimulate  their  exertions  and  to 
reward  their  industry. 

The  two  laws  passed  at  the  last  session  of  Congress  on  the 
subject  of  Indian  affairs  have  been  carried  into  effect,  and 
detailed  instructions  for  their  administration  have  been 
given.  It  will  be  seen  by  the  estimates  for  the  present  ses- 
sion that  a  great  reduction  will  take  place  in  the  expenditures 
of  the  Department  in  consequence  of  these  laws,  and  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  their  operation  will  be  salutary  and 
that  the  colonization  of  the  Indians  on  the  western  frontier, 


3^6  Andrew  Jackson 

together  with  a  judicious  system  of  administration,  will  still 
further  reduce  the  expenses  of  this  branch  of  the  public 
service  and  at  the  same  time  promote  its  usefulness  and 
efficiency. 

Circumstances  have  been  recently  developed  showing  the 
existence  of  extensive  frauds  under  the  various  laws  grant- 
ing pensions  and  gratuities  for  Revolutionary  services.  It 
is  impossible  to  estimate  the  amount  which  may  have  been 
thus  fraudulently  obtained  from  the  National  Treasury.  I 
am  satisfied,  however,  it  has  been  such  as  to  justify  a  re- 
examination of  the  system  and  the  adoption  of  the  necessary 
checks  in  its  administration.  All  will  agree  that  the  services 
and  sufferings  of  the  remnant  of  our  Revolutionary  band 
should  be  fully  compensated ;  but  while  this  is  done,  every 
proper  precaution  should  be  taken  to  prevent  the  admission 
of  fabricated  and  fraudulent  claims.  In  the  present  mode 
of  proceeding  the  attestations  and  certificates  of  the  judicial 
officers  of  the  various  States  form  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  checks  which  are  interposed  against  the  commission  of 
frauds.  These,  however,  have  been  and  may  be  fabricated, 
and  in  such  a  way  as  to  elude  detection  at  the  examining 
offices.  And  independently  of  this  practical  difficulty,  it  is 
ascertained  that  these  documents  are  often  loosely  granted ; 
sometimes  even  blank  certificates  have  been  issued;  some- 
times prepared  papers  have  been  signed  without  inquiry,  and 
in  one  instance,  at  least,  the  seal  of  the  court  has  been  within 
reach  of  a  person  most  interested  in  its  improper  application. 
It  is  obvious  that  under  such  circumstances  no  severity  of 
administration  can  check  the  abuse  of  the  law.  And  infor- 
mation has  from  time  to  time  been  communicated  to  the 
Pension  Office  questioning  or  denying  the  right  of  persons 
placed  upon  the  pension  list  to  the  bounty  of  the  country. 
Such  cautions  are  always  attended  to  and  examined,  but  a 
far  more  general  investigation  is  called  for,  and  I  therefore 
recommend,  in  conformity  with  the  suggestion  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  War,  that  an  actual  inspection  should  be  made  in 
each  State  into  the  circumstances  and  claims  of  every  person 
now  drawing  a  pension.    The  honest  veteran  has  nothing  to 


Sixth   Annual  Message  3^7 

fear  from  such  a  scrutiny,  while  the  fraudulent  claimant  will 
be  detected  and  the  public  Treasury  relieved  to  an  amount, 
I  have  reason  to  believe,  far  greater  than  has  heretofore  been 
suspected.  The  details  of  such  a  plan  could  be  so  regulated 
as  to  interpose  the  necessary  checks  without  any  burdensome 
operation  upon  the  pensioners.  The  object  should  be  two- 
fold: 

1.  To  look  into  the  original  justice  of  the  claims,  so  far 
as  this  can  be  done  under  a  proper  system  of  regulations,  by 
an  examination  of  the  claimants  themselves  and  by  inquiring 
in  the  vicinity  of  their  residence  into  their  history  and  into 
the  opinion  entertained  of  their  Revolutionary  services. 

2.  To  ascertain  in  all  cases  whether  the  original  claimant 
is  living,  and  this  by  actual  personal  inspection. 

This  measure  will,  if  adopted,  be  productive,  I  think,  of 
the  desired  results,  and  I  therefore  recommend  it  to  your 
consideration,  with  the  further  suggestion  that  all  payments 
should  be  suspended  till  the  necessary  reports  are  received. 

It  will  be  seen  by  a  tabular  statement  annexed  to  the  docu- 
ments transmitted  to  Congress  that  the  appropriations  for 
objects  connected  with  the  War  Department,  made  at  the 
last  session,  for  the  service  of  the  year  1834,  excluding  the 
permanent  appropriation  for  the  payment  of  military  gratu- 
ities under  the  act  of  June  7,  1832,  the  appropriation  of 
$200,000  for  arming  and  equipping  the  militia,  and  the  ap- 
propriation of  $10,000  for  the  civilization  of  the  Indians, 
which  are  not  annually  renewed,  amounted  to  the  sum  of 
$9,003,261,  and  that  the  estimates  of  appropriations  neces- 
sary for  the  same  branches  of  service  for  the  year  1835 
amount  to  the  sum  of  $5,778,964,  making  a  difference  in  the 
appropriations  of  the  current  year  over  the  estimates  of  the 
appropriations  for  the  next  of  $3,224,297. 

The  principal  causes  which  have  operated  at  this  time  to 
produce  this  great  difference  are  shown  in  the  reports  and 
documents  and  in  the  detailed  estimates.  Some  of  these 
causes  are  accidental  and  temporary,  while  others  are  per- 
manent, and,  aided  by  a  just  course  of  administration,  may 
continue  to  operate  beneficially  upon  the  public  expenditures. 


3^8  Andrew  Jackson 

A  just  economy,  expending  where  the  pubHc  service  re- 
quires and  withholding  where  it  does  not,  is  among  the  in- 
dispensable duties  of  the  Government. 

I  refer  you  to  the  accompanying  report  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy  and  to  the  documents  with  it  for  a  full  view  of 
the  operations  of  that  important  branch  of  our  service  dur- 
ing the  present  year.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  wisdom  and 
liberality  with  which  Congress  has  provided  for  the  gradual 
increase  of  our  navy  material  have  been  seconded  by  a  cor- 
responding zeal  and  fidelity  on  the  part  of  those  to  whom 
has  been  confided  the  execution  of  the  laws  on  the  subject, 
and  that  but  a  short  period  would  be  now  required  to  put  in 
commission  a  force  large  enough  for  any  exigency  into 
which  the  country  may  be  thrown. 

When  we  reflect  upon  our  position  in  relation  to  other 
nations,  it  must  be  apparent  that  in  the  event  of  conflicts 
with  them  we  must  look  chiefly  to  our  Navy  for  the  protec- 
tion of  our  national  rights.  The  wide  seas  which  separate 
us  from  other  Governments  must  of  necessity  be  the  theater 
on  which  an  enemy  will  aim  to  assail  us,  and  unless  we  are 
prepared  to  meet  him  on  this  element  we  can  not  be  said  to 
possess  the  power  requisite  to  repel  or  prevent  aggressions. 
We  can  not,  therefore,  watch  with  too  much  attention  this 
arm  of  our  defense,  or  cherish  with  too  much  care  the  means 
by  which  it  can  possess  the  necessary  efficiency  and  exten- 
sion. To  this  end  our  policy  has  been  heretofore  wisely 
directed  to  the  constant  employment  of  a  force  sufficient  to 
guard  our  commerce,  and  to  the  rapid  accumulation  of  the 
materials  which  are  necessary  to  repair  our  vessels  and  con- 
struct with  ease  such  new  ones  as  may  be  required  in  a  state 
of  war. 

In  accordance  with  this  policy,  I  recommend  to  your  con- 
sideration the  erection  of  the  additional  dry  dock  described 
by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  also  the  construction  of 
the  steam  batteries  to  which  he  has  referred,  for  the  purpose 
of  testing  their  efficacy  as  auxiliaries  to  the  system  of  de- 
fense now  in  use. 

The  report  of  the  Postmaster-General  herewith  submitted 


Sixth  Annual  Message  3^9 

exhibits  the  condition  and  prospects  of  that  Department. 
From  that  document  it  appears  that  there  was  a  deficit  in  the 
funds  of  the  Department  at  the  commencement  of  the  pres- 
ent year  beyond  its  available  means  of  $315,599.98,  which 
on  the  ist  July  last  had  been  reduced  to  $268,092.74.  It 
appears  also  that  the  revenues  for  the  coming  year  will  ex- 
ceed the  expenditures  about  $270,000,  which,  with  the  excess 
of  revenue  which  will  result  from  the  operations  of  the  cur- 
rent half  year,  may  be  expected,  independently  of  any  in- 
crease in  the  gross  amount  of  postages,  to  supply  the  entire 
deficit  before  the  end  of  1835.  But  as  this  calculation  is 
based  on  the  gross  amount  of  postages  which  had  accrued 
within  the  period  embraced  by  the  times  of  striking  the  bal- 
ances, it  is  obvious  that  without  a  progressive  increase  in 
the  amount  of  postages  the  existing  retrenchments  must  be 
persevered  in  through  the  year  1836  that  the  Department 
may  accumulate  a  surplus  fund  sufficient  to  place  it  in  a  con- 
dition of  perfect  ease. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  revenues  of  the  Post-Office 
Department,  though  they  have  increased,  and  their  amount 
is  above  that  of  any  former  year,  have  yet  fallen  short  of 
the  estimates  more  than  $100,000.  This  is  attributed  in  a 
great  degree  to  the  increase  of  free  letters  growing  out  of 
the  extension  and  abuse  of  the  franking  privilege.  There 
has  been  a  gradual  increase  in  the  number  of  executive  offices 
to  which  it  has  been  granted,  and  by  an  act  passed  in  March, 
1833,  it  was  extended  to  members  of  Congress  throughout 
the  whole  year.  It  is  believed  that  a  revision  of  the  laws 
relative  to  the  franking  privilege,  with  some  enactments  to 
enforce  more  rigidly  the  restrictions  under  which  it  is 
granted,  would  operate  beneficially  to  the  country,  by  en- 
abling the  Department  at  an  earlier  period  to  restore  the 
mail  facilities  that  have  been  withdrawn,  and  to  extend  them 
more  widely,  as  the  growing  settlements  of  the  country  may 
require. 

To  a  measure  so  important  to  the  Government  and  so 
just  to  our  constituents,  who  ask  no  exclusive  privileges 
for   themselves   and   are   not   willing  to  concede   them  to 


39°  Andrew  Jackson 

others,  I  earnestly  recommend  the  serious  attention  of 
Congress. 

The  importance  of  the  Post-Office  Department  and  the 
magnitude  to  which  it  has  grown,  both  in  its  revenues  and 
in  its  operations,  seem  to  demand  its  reorganization  by  law. 
The  whole  of  its  receipts  and  disbursements  have  hitherto 
been  left  entirely  to  Executive  control  and  individual  dis- 
cretion. The  principle  is  as  sound  in  relation  to  this  as  to 
any  other  Department  of  the  Government,  that  as  little  dis- 
cretion should  be  confided  to  the  executive  officer  who  con- 
trols it  as  is  compatible  with  its  efficiency.  It  is  therefore 
earnestly  recommended  that  it  be  organized  with  an  auditor 
and  treasurer  of  its  own,  appointed  by  the  President  and 
Senate,  who  shall  be  branches  of  the  Treasury  Department. 

Your  attention  is  again  respectfully  invited  to  the  defect 
which  exists  in  the  judicial  system  of  the  United  States. 
Nothing  can  be  more  desirable  than  the  uniform  operation 
of  the  Federal  judiciary  throughout  the  several  States,  all 
of  which,  standing  on  the  same  footing  as  members  of  the 
Union,  have  equal  rights  to  the  advantages  and  benefits  re- 
sulting from  its  laws.  This  object  is  not  attained  by  the 
judicial  acts  now  in  force,  because  they  leave  one-fourth  of 
the  States  without  circuit  courts. 

It  is  undoubtedly  the  duty  of  Congress  to  place  all  the 
States  on  the  same  footing  in  this  respect,  either  by  the 
creation  of  an  additional  number  of  associate  judges  or  by 
an  enlargement  of  the  circuits  assigned  to  those  already  ap- 
pointed so  as  to  include  the  new  States.  Whatever  may  be 
the  difficulty  in  a  proper  organization  of  the  judicial  system 
so  as  to  secure  its  efficiency  and  uniformity  in  all  parts  of 
the  Union  and  at  the  same  time  to  avoid  such  an  increase  of 
judges  as  would  encumber  the  supreme  appellate  tribunal, 
it  should  not  be  allowed  to  weigh  against  the  great  injustice 
which  the  present  operation  of  the  system  produces. 

I  trust  that  I  may  be  also  pardoned  for  renewing  the 
recommendation  I  have  so  often  submitted  to  your  attention 
in  regard  to  the  mode  of  electing  the  President  and  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States.     All  the  reflection  I  have 


Sixth  Annual  Message  39  ^ 

been  able  to  bestow  upon  the  subject  increases  my  convic- 
tion that  the  best  interests  of  the  country  will  be  promoted 
by  the  adoption  of  some  plan  which  will  secure  in  all  con- 
tingencies that  important  right  of  sovereignty  to  the  direct 
control  of  the  people.  Could  this  be  attained,  and  the  terms 
of  those  officers  be  limited  to  a  single  period  of  either  four 
or  six  years,  I  think  our  liberties  would  possess  an  addi- 
tional safeguard. 

At  your  last  session  I  called  the  attention  of  Congress  to 
the  destruction  of  the  public  building  occupied  by  the  Treas- 
ury Department.  As  the  public  interest  requires  that  another 
building  should  be  erected  with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  it 
is  hoped  that  the  means  will  be  seasonably  provided  and  that 
they  will  be  ample  enough  to  authorize  such  an  enlargement 
and  improvement  in  the  plan  of  the  building  as  will  more 
effectually  accommodate  the  public  officers  and  secure  the 
public  documents  deposited  in  it  from  the  casualties  of  fire. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  satisfy  myself  that  the  bill  entitled 
"  An  act  to  improve  the  navigation  of  the  Wabash  River," 
which  was  sent  to  me  at  the  close  of  your  last  session,  ought 
to  pass,  and  I  have  therefore  withheld  from  it  my  approval 
and  now  return  it  to  the  Senate,  the  body  in  which  it  orig- 
inated. 

There  can  be  no  question  connected  with  the  administra- 
tion of  public  affairs  more  important  or  more  difficult  to  be 
satisfactorily  dealt  with  than  that  which  relates  to  the  right- 
ful authority  and  proper  action  of  the  Federal  Government 
upon  the  subject  of  internal  improvements.  To  inherent 
embarrassments  have  been  added  others  resulting  from  the 
course  of  our  legislation  concerning  it. 

I  have  heretofore  communicated  freely  with  Congress 
upon  this  subject,  and  in  adverting  to  it  again  I  can  not 
refrain  from  expressing  my  increased  conviction  of  its  ex- 
treme importance  as  well  in  regard  to  its  bearing  upon  the 
maintenance  of  the  Constitution  and  the  prudent  manage- 
ment of  the  public  revenue  as  on  account  of  its  disturbing 
effect  upon  the  harmony  of  the  Union. 

We  are  in  no  danger  from  violations  of  the  Constitution 


392  Andrew  Jackson 

by  which  encroachments  are  made  upon  the  personal  rights 
of  the  citizen.  The  sentence  of  condemnation  long  since 
pronounced  by  the  American  people  upon  acts  of  that  char- 
acter will,  I  doubt  not,  continue  to  prove  as  salutary  in  its 
effects  as  it  is  irreversible  in  its  nature.  But  against  the 
dangers  of  unconstitutional  acts  which,  instead  of  menacing 
the  vengeance  of  offended  authority,  proffer  local  advan- 
tages and  bring  in  their  train  the  patronage  of  the  Govern- 
ment, we  are,  I  fear,  not  so  safe.  To  suppose  that  because 
our  Government  has  been  instituted  for  the  benefit  of  the 
people  it  must  therefore  have  the  power  to  do  whatever  may 
seem  to  conduce  to  the  public  good  is  an  error  into  which 
even  honest  minds  are  too  apt  to  fall..  In  yielding  them- 
selves to  this  fallacy  they  overlook  the  great  considerations 
in  which  the  Federal  Constitution  was  founded.  They  for- 
get that  in  consequence  of  the  conceded  diversities  in  the 
interest  and  condition  of  the  different  States  it  was  foreseen 
at  the  period  of  its  adoption  that  although  a  particular  meas- 
ure of  the  Government  might  be  beneficial  and  proper  in  one 
State  it  might  be  the  reverse  in  another ;  that  it  was  for  this 
reason  the  States  would  not  consent  to  make  a  grant  to  the 
Federal  Government  of  the  general  and  usual  powers  of 
government,  but  of  such  only  as  were  specifically  enumer- 
ated, and  the  probable  effects  of  which  they  could,  as  they 
thought,  safely  anticipate;  and  they  forget  also  the  para- 
mount obligation  upon  all  to  abide  by  the  compact  then  so 
solemnly  and,  as  it  was  hoped,  so  firmly  established.  In 
addition  to  the  dangers  to  the  Constitution  springing  from 
the  sources  I  have  stated,  there  has  been  one  which  was  per- 
haps greater  than  all.  I  allude  to  the  materials  which  this 
subject  has  afforded  for  sinister  appeals  to  selfish  feelings, 
and  the  opinion  heretofore  so  extensively  entertained  of  its 
adaptation  to  the  purposes  of  personal  ambition.  With  such 
stimulants  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  acts  and  pretensions 
of  the  Federal  Government  in  this  behalf  should  sometimes 
have  been  carried  to  an  alarming  extent.  The  questions 
which  have  arisen  upon  this  subject  have  related — 

First.  To  the  power  of  making  internal  improvements 


Sixth  Annual  Message  393 

within  the  Hmits  of  a  State,  with  the  right  of  territorial 
jurisdiction,  sufficient  at  least  for  their  preservation  and  use. 

Second.  To  the  right  of  appropriating  money  in  aid  of 
such  works  when  carried  on  by  a  State  or  by  a  company  in 
virtue  of  State  authority,  surrendering  the  claim  of  juris- 
diction ;  and 

Third.  To  the  propriety  of  appropriation  for  improve- 
ments of  a  particular  class,  viz.,  for  light-houses,  beacons, 
buoys,  public  piers,  and  for  the  removal  of  sand  bars,  saw- 
yers, and  other  temporary  and  partial  impediments  in  our 
navigable  rivers  and  harbors. 

The  claims  of  power  for  the  General  Government  upon 
each  of  these  points  certainly  present  matter  of  the  deepest 
interest.  The  first  is,  however,  of  much  the  greatest  im- 
portance, inasmuch  as,  in  addition  to  the  dangers  of  unequal 
and  improvident  expenditures  of  public  moneys  common  to 
all,  there  is  superadded  to  that  the  conflicting  jurisdictions 
of  the  respective  governments.  Federal  jurisdiction,  at  least 
to  the  extent  I  have  stated,  has  been  justly  regarded  by  its 
advocates  as  necessarily  appurtenant  to  the  power  in  ques- 
tion, if  that  exists  by  the  Constitution.  That  the  most  in- 
jurious conflicts  would  unavoidably  arise  between  the  re- 
spective jurisdictions  of  the  State  and  Federal  Governments 
in  the  absence  of  a  constitutional  provision  marking  out  their 
respective  boundaries  can  not  be  doubted.  The  local  advan- 
tages to  be  obtained  would  induce  the  States  to  overlook  in 
the  beginning  the  dangers  and  difficulties  to  which  they 
might  ultimately  be  exposed.  The  powers  exercised  by  the 
Federal  Government  would  soon  be  regarded  with  jealousy 
by  the  State  authorities,  and  originating  as  they  must  from 
implication  or  assumption,  it  would  be  impossible  to  affix 
to  them  certain  and  safe  limits.  Opportunities  and  tempta- 
tions to  the  assumption  of  power  incompatible  with  State 
sovereignty  would  be  increased  and  those  barriers  which 
resist  the  tendency  of  our  system  toward  consolidation 
greatly  weakened.  The  officers  and  agents  of  the  General 
Government  might  not  always  have  the  discretion  to  abstain 
from  intermeddling  with  State  concerns,  and  if  they  did 


394  'Andrew  Jackson 

they  would  not  always  escape  the  suspicion  of  having  done 
so.  Collisions  and  consequent  irritations  would  spring  up ; 
that  harmony  which  should  ever  exist  between  the  General 
Government  and  each  member  of  the  Confederacy  would  be 
frequently  interrupted;  a  spirit  of  contention  would  be  en- 
gendered and  the  dangers  of  disunion  greatly  multiplied. 

Yet  we  all  know  that  notwithstanding  these  grave  objec- 
tions this  dangerous  doctrine  was  at  one  time  apparently 
proceeding  to  its  final  establishment  with  fearful  rapidity. 
The  desire  to  embark  the  Federal  Government  in  works  of 
internal  improvement  prevailed  in  the  highest  degree  during 
the  first  session  of  the  first  Congress  that  I  had  the  honor  to 
meet  in  my  present  situation.  When  the  bill  authorizing  a 
subscription  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  for  stock  in  the 
Maysville  and  Lexington  Turnpike  Company  passed  the  two 
Houses,  there  had  been  reported  by  the  Committees  of  Inter- 
nal Improvements  bills  containing  appropriations  for  such 
objects,  inclusive  of  those  for  the  Cumberland  road  and  for 
harbors  and  light-houses,  to  the  amount  of  $106,000,000. 
In  this  amount  was  included  authority  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  to  subscribe  for  the  stock  of  different  com- 
panies to  a  great  extent,  and  the  residue  was  principally  for 
the  direct  construction  of  roads  by  this  Government.  In 
addition  to  these  projects,  which  had  been  presented  to  the 
two  Houses  under  the  sanction  and  recommendation  of  their 
respective  Committees  on  Internal  Improvements,  there 
were  then  still  pending  before  the  committees,  and  in  me- 
morials to  Congress  presented  but  not  referred,  different 
projects  for  works  of  a  similar  character,  the  expense  of 
which  can  not  be  estimated  with  certainty,  but  must  have 
exceeded  $  1 00,000,000. 

Regarding  the  bill  authorizing  a  subscription  to  the  stock 
of  the  Maysville  and  Lexington  Turnpike  Company  as  the 
entering  wedge  of  a  system  which,  however  weak  at  first, 
might  soon  become  strong  enough  to  rive  the  bands  of  the 
Union  asunder,  and  believing  that  if  its  passage  was  ac- 
quiesced in  by  the  Executive  and  the  people  there  would  no 
longer  be  any  limitation  upon  the  authority  of  the  General 


Sixth   Annual  Message  395 

Government  in  respect  to  the  appropriation  of  money  for 
such  objects,  I  deemed  it  an  imperative  duty  to  withhold 
from  it  the  Executive  approval.  Although  from  the  ob- 
viously local  character  of  that  v^'ork  I  might  well  have  con- 
tented myself  with  a  refusal  to  approve  the  bill  upon  that 
ground,  yet  sensible  of  the  vital  importance  of  the  subject, 
and  anxious  that  my  views  and  opinions  in  regard  to  the 
whole  matter  should  be  fully  understood  by  Congress  and 
by  my  constituents,  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  go  further.  I  there- 
fore embraced  that  early  occasion  to  apprise  Congress  that 
in  my  opinion  the  Constitution  did  not  confer  upon  it  the 
power  to  authorize  the  construction  of  ordinary  roads  and 
canals  within  the  limits  of  a  State  and  to  say,  respectfully, 
that  no  bill  admitting  such  a  power  could  receive  my  official 
sanction.  I  did  so  in  the  confident  expectation  that  the 
speedy  settlement  of  the  public  mind  upon  the  whole  subject 
would  be  greatly  facilitated  by  the  difference  between  the 
two  Houses  and  myself,  and  that  the  harmonious  action  of 
the  several  departments  of  the  Federal  Government  in  re- 
gard to  it  would  be  ultimately  secured. 

So  far,  at  least,  as  it  regards  this  branch  of  the  subject, 
my  best  hopes  have  been  realized.  Nearly  four  years  have 
elapsed,  and  several  sessions  of  Congress  have  intervened, 
and  no  attempt  within  my  recollection  has  been  made  to 
induce  Congress  to  exercise  this  power.  The  applications 
for  the  construction  of  roads  and  canals  which  were  for- 
merly multiplied  upon  your  files  are  no  longer  presented, 
and  we  have  good  reason  to  infer  that  the  current  of  public 
sentiment  has  become  so  decided  against  the  pretension  as 
effectually  to  discourage  its  reassertion.  So  thinking,  I  de- 
rive the  greatest  satisfaction  from  the  conviction  that  thus 
much  at  least  has  been  secured  upon  this  important  and  em- 
barrassing subject. 

From  attempts  to  appropriate  the  national  funds  to  objects 
which  are  confessedly  of  a  local  character  we  can  not,  I 
trust,  have  anything  further  to  apprehend.  My  views  in 
regard  to  the  expediency  of  making  appropriations  for 
works  which  are  claimed  to  be  of  a  national  character  and 


39^  Andrew  Jackson 

prosecuted  under  State  authority — assuming  that  Congress 
have  the  right  to  do  so — were  stated  in  my  annual  message 
to  Congress  in  1830,  and  also  in  that  containing  my  objec- 
tions to  the  Maysville  road  bill. 

So  thoroughly  convinced  am  I  that  no  such  appropriations 
ought  to  be  made  by  Congress  until  a  suitable  constitutional 
provision  is  made  upon  the  subject,  and  so  essential  do  I 
regard  the  point  to  the  highest  interests  of  our  country,  that 
I  could  not  consider  myself  as  discharging  my  duty  to  my 
constituents  in  giving  the  Executive  sanction  to  any  bill  con- 
taining such  an  appropriation.  If  the  people  of  the  United 
States  desire  that  the  public  Treasury  shall  be  resorted  to 
for  the  means  to  prosecute  such  works,  they  will  concur  in 
an  amendment  of  the  Constitution  prescribing  a  rule  by 
which  the  national  character  of  the  works  is  to  be  tested, 
and  by  which  the  greatest  practicable  equality  of  benefits 
may  be  secured  to  each  member  of  the  Confederacy.  The 
effects  of  such  a  regulation  would  be  most  salutary  in  pre- 
venting unprofitable  expenditures,  in  securing  our  legisla- 
tion from  the  pernicious  consequences  of  a  scramble  for  the 
favors  of  Government,  and  in  repressing  the  spirit  of  dis- 
content which  must  inevitably  arise  from  an  unequal  dis- 
tribution of  treasures  which  belong  alike  to  all. 

There  is  another  class  of  appropriations  for  what  may  be 
called,  without  impropriety,  internal  improvements,  which 
have  always  been  regarded  as  standing  upon  different 
grounds  from  those  to  which  I  have  referred.  I  allude  to 
such  as  have  for  their  object  the  improvement  of  our  har- 
bors, the  removal  of  partial  and  temporary  obstructions  in 
our  navigable  rivers,  for  the  facility  and  security  of  our 
foreign  commerce.  The  grounds  upon  which  I  distinguished 
appropriations  of  this  character  from  others  have  already 
been  stated  to  Congress.  I  will  now  only  add  that  at  the 
first  session  of  Congress  under  the  new  Constitution  it  was 
provided  by  law  that  all  expenses  which  should  accrue  from 
and  after  the  15th  day  of  August,  1789,  in  the  necessary 
support  and  maintenance  and  repairs  of  all  light-houses, 
beacons,  buoys,  and  public  piers  erected,  placed,  or  sunk  be- 


Sixth  Annual  Message  397 

fore  the  passage  of  the  act  within  any  bay,  inlet,  harbor,  or 
port  of  the  United  States,  for  rendering  the  navigation 
thereof  easy  and  safe,  should  be  defrayed  out  of  the  Treas- 
ury of  the  United  States,  and,  further,  that  it  should  be  the 
duty  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  provide  by  con- 
tracts, with  the  approbation  of  the  President,  for  rebuilding 
when  necessary  and  keeping  in  good  repair  the  light-houses, 
beacons,  buoys,  and  public  piers  in  the  several  States,  and 
for  furnishing  them  with  supplies.  Appropriations  for  sim- 
ilar objects  have  been  continued  from  that  time  to  the 
present  without  interruption  or  dispute.  As  a  natural  con- 
sequence of  the  increase  and  extension  of  our  foreign 
commerce,  ports  of  entry  and  delivery  have  been  multiplied 
and  established,  not  only  upon  our  seaboard,  but  in  the  in- 
terior of  the  country  upon  our  lakes  and  navigable  rivers. 
The  convenience  and  safety  of  this  commerce  have  led  to 
the  gradual  extension  of  these  expenditures ;  to  the  erection 
of  light-houses,  the  placing,  planting,  and  sinking  of  buoys, 
beacons,  and  piers,  and  to  the  removal  of  partial  and  tem- 
porary obstructions  in  our  navigable  rivers  and  in  the  har- 
bors upon  our  Great  Lakes  as  well  as  on  the  seaboard.  Al- 
though I  have  expressed  to  Congress  my  apprehension  that 
these  expenditures  have  sometimes  been  extravagant  and 
disproportionate  to  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  them, 
I  have  not  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  to  refuse  my  assent  to  bills 
containing  them,  and  have  contented  myself  to  follow  in  this 
respect  in  the  footsteps  of  all  my  predecessors.  Sensible, 
however,  from  experience  and  observation  of  the  great 
abuses  to  which  the  unrestricted  exercise  of  this  authority 
by  Congress  was  exposed,  I  have  prescribed  a  limitation  for 
the  government  of  my  own  conduct  by  which  expenditures 
of  this  character  are  confined  to  places  below  the  ports  of 
entry  or  delivery  established  by  law.  I  am  very  sensible  that 
this  restriction  is  not  as  satisfactory  as  could  be  desired,  and 
that  much  embarrassment  may  be  caused  to  the  executive 
department  in  its  execution  by  appropriations  for  remote 
and  not  well-understood  objects.  But  as  neither  my  own 
reflections  nor  the  lights  which  I  may  properly  derive  from 


39^  Andrew  Jackson 

other  sources  have  supplied  me  with  a  better,  I  shall  continue 
to  apply  my  best  exertions  to  a  faithful  application  of  the 
rule  upon  which  it  is  founded.  I  sincerely  regret  that  I 
could  not  give  my  assent  to  the  bill  entitled  "  An  act  to 
improve  the  navigation  of  the  Wabash  River ;  "  but  I  could 
not  have  done  so  without  receding  from  the  ground  which 
I  have,  upon  the  fullest  consideration,  taken  upon  this  sub- 
ject, and  of  which  Congress  has  been  heretofore  apprised, 
and  without  throwing  the  subject  again  open  to  abuses  which 
no  good  citizen  entertaining  my  opinions  could  desire, 

I  rely  upon  the  intelligence  and  candor  of  my  fellow-citi- 
zens, in  whose  liberal  indulgence  I  have  already  so  largely 
participated,  for  a  correct  appreciation  of  my  motives  in 
interposing  as  I  have  done  on  this  and  other  occasions 
checks  to  a  course  of  legislation  which,  without  in  the  slight- 
est degree  calling  in  question  the  motives  of  others,  I  con- 
sider as  sanctioning  improper  and  unconstitutional  expendi- 
tures of  public  treasure. 

I  am  not  hostile  to  internal  improvements,  and  wish  to 
see  them  extended  to  every  part  of  the  country.  But  I  am 
fully  persuaded,  if  they  are  not  commenced  in  a  proper  man- 
ner, confined  to  proper  objects,  and  conducted  under  an 
authority  generally  conceded  to  be  rightful,  that  a  successful 
prosecution  of  them  can  not  be  reasonably  expected.  The 
attempt  will  meet  with  resistance  where  it  might  otherwise 
receive  support,  and  instead  of  strengthening  the  bonds  of 
our  Confederacy  it  will  only  multiply  and  aggravate  the 
causes  of  disunion. 


Seventh  Annual  Message.* 

(December  7,  1835.) 

Fclloiv-Citizcns  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Represent- 
atives: In  the  discharge  of  my  official  duty  the  task  again 
devolves  upon  me  of  communicating  with  a  new  Congress. 
The  reflection  that  the  representation  of  the  Union  has  been 
recently  renewed,  and  that  the  constitutional  term  of  its 
service  will  expire  with  my  own,  heightens  the  solicitude 
with  which  I  shall  attempt  to  lay  before  it  the  state  of  our 
national  concerns  and  the  devout  hope  which  I  cherish  that 
its  labors  to  improve  them  may  be  crowned  with  success. 

You  are  assembled  at  a  period  of  profound  interest  to  the 
American  patriot.  The  unexampled  growth  and  prosperity 
of  our  country  having  given  us  a  rank  in  the  scale  of  na- 
tions which  removes  all  apprehension  of  danger  to  our  in- 
tegrity and  independence  from  external  foes,  the  career  of 
freedom  is  before  us,  with  an  earnest  from  the  past  that  if 
true  to  ourselves  there  can  be  no  formidable  obstacle  in  the 
future  to  its  peaceful  and  uninterrupted  pursuit.  Yet,  in 
proportion  to  the  disappearance  of  those  apprehensions 
which  attended  our  weakness,  as  once  contrasted  with  the 
power  of  some  of  the  States  of  the  Old  World,  should  we 
now  be  solicitous  as  to  those  which  belong  to  the  conviction 
that  it  is  to  our  own  conduct  we  must  look  for  the  preserva- 

*  In  connection  with  the  history  of  the  period,  this  message  should 
be  read  in  its  declarations  concerning,  (i)  the  northeastern  boundary; 
(2)  the  Spanish  claims;  (3)  foreign  relations  (notably  Holland,  Bel- 
gium, Turkey,  Mexico  and  the  South  American  governments);  (4) 
French  spoliations;  (5)  final  extinction  of  the  public  debt;  (6)  the 
Bank  of  the  U.  S. ;  (7)  removal  of  Indian  tribes  to  reservations;  (8) 
internal  improvements;  (9)  circulation  through  the  mails  of  "incen- 
diary publications  intended  to  instigate  the  slaves  to  insurrection." 

This  message  is  specially  interesting  in  its  disclosure  of  the  Govern- 
ment's attitude  toward  the  rising  anti-slavery  movement.     [Ed.] 

399 


400  Andrew  Jackson 

tion  of  those  causes  on  which  depend  the  excellence  and  the 
duration  of  our  happy  system  of  government. 

In  the  example  of  other  systems  founded  on  the  will  of 
the  people  we  trace  to  internal  dissension  the  influences 
which  have  so  often  blasted  the  hopes  of  the  friends  of  free- 
dom. The  social  elements,  which  were  strong  and  successful 
when  united  against  external  danger,  failed  in  the  more  diffi- 
cult task  of  properly  adjusting  their  own  internal  organiza- 
tion, and  thus  gave  way  the  great  principle  of  self-govern- 
ment. Let  us  trust  that  this  admonition  will  never  be 
forgotten  by  the  Government  or  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  and  that  the  testimony  which  our  experience  thus  far 
holds  out  to  the  great  human  family  of  the  practicability 
and  the  blessings  of  free  government  will  be  confirmed  in 
all  time  to  come. 

We  have  but  to  look  at  the  state  of  our  agriculture,  manu- 
factures, and  commerce  and  the  unexampled  increase  of  our 
population  to  feel  the  magnitude  of  the  trust  committed  to 
us.  Never  in  any  former  period  of  our  history  have  we  had 
greater  reason  than  we  now  have  to  be  thankful  to  Divine 
Providence  for  the  blessings  of  health  and  general  pros- 
perity. Every  branch  of  labor  we  see  crowned  with  the 
most  abundant  rewards.  In  every  element  of  national  re- 
sources and  wealth  and  of  individual  comfort  we  witness 
the  most  rapid  and  solid  improvements.  With  no  interrup- 
tions to  this  pleasing  prospect  at  home  which  will  not  yield 
to  the  spirit  of  harmony  and  good  will  that  so  strikingly  per- 
vades the  mass  of  the  people  in  every  quarter,  amidst  all  the 
diversity  of  interest  and  pursuits  to  which  they  are  attached, 
and  with  no  cause  of  solicitude  in  regard  to  our  external 
affairs  which  will  not,  it  is  hoped,  disappear  before  the  prin- 
ciples of  simple  justice  and  the  forbearance  that  mark  our 
intercourse  with  foreign  powers,  we  have  every  reason  to 
feel  proud  of  our  beloved  country. 

The  general  state  of  our  foreign  relations  has  not  ma- 
terially changed  since  my  last  annual  message. 

In  the  settlement  of  the  question  of  the  northeastern 
boundary  little  progress  has  been  made.    Great  Britain  has 


Seventh  Annual  Message  ^oi 

declined  acceding  to  the  proposition  of  the  United  States, 
presented  in  accordance  with  the  resolution  of  the  Senate, 
unless  certain  preliminary  conditions  were  admitted,  which 
I  deemed  incompatible  with  a  satisfactory  and  rightful  ad- 
justment of  the  controversy.  Waiting  for  some  distinct  pro- 
posal from  the  Government  of  Great  Britain,  which  has  been 
invited,  I  can  only  repeat  the  expression  of  my  confidence 
that,  with  the  strong  mutual  disposition  which  I  believe  ex- 
ists to  make  a  just  arrangement,  this  perplexing  question 
can  be  settled  with  a  due  regard  to  the  well-founded  pre- 
tensions and  pacific  policy  of  all  the  parties  to  it.  Events 
are  frequently  occurring  on  the  northeastern  frontier  of  a 
character  to  impress  upon  all  the  necessity  of  a  speedy  and 
definitive  termination  of  the  dispute.  This  consideration, 
added  to  the  desire  common  to  both  to  relieve  the  liberal  and 
friendly  relations  so  happily  existing  between  the  two  coun- 
tries from  all  embarrassment,  will  no  doubt  have  its  just 
influence  upon  both. 

Our  diplomatic  intercourse  with  Portugal  has  been  re- 
newed, and  it  is  expected  that  the  claims  of  our  citizens, 
partially  paid,  will  be  fully  satisfied  as  soon  as  the  condition 
of  the  Queen's  Government  will  permit  the  proper  attention 
to  the  subject  of  them.  That  Government  has,  I  am  happy 
to  inform  you,  manifested  a  determination  to  act  upon  the 
liberal  principles  which  have  marked  our  commercial  policy. 
The  happiest  effects  upon  the  future  trade  between  the 
United  States  and  Portugal  are  anticipated  from  it,  and  the 
time  is  not  thought  to  be  remote  when  a  system  of  perfect 
reciprocity  will  be  established. 

The  installments  due  under  the  convention  with  the  King 
of  the  Two  Sicilies  have  been  paid  with  that  scrupulous 
fidelity  by  which  his  whole  conduct  has  been  characterized, 
and  the  hope  is  indulged  that  the  adjustment  of  the  vexed 
question  of  our  claims  will  be  followed  by  a  more  extended 
and  mutually  beneficial  intercourse  between  the  two  coun- 
tries. 

The  internal  contest  still  continues  in  Spain.  Distin- 
guished as  this  struggle  has  unhappily  been  by  incidents  of 


402  Andrew  Jackson 

the  most  sanguinary  character,  the  obligations  of  the  late 
treaty  of  indemnification  with  us  have  been,  nevertheless, 
faithfully  executed  by  the  Spanish  Government. 

No  provision  having  been  made  at  the  last  session  of  Con- 
gress for  the  ascertainment  of  the  claims  to  be  paid  and  the 
apportionment  of  the  funds  under  the  convention  made  with 
Spain,  I  invite  your  early  attention  to  the  subject.  The  pub- 
lic evidences  of  the  debt  have,  according  to  the  terms  of  the 
convention  and  in  the  forms  prescribed  by  it,  been  placed  in 
the  possession  of  the  United  States,  and  the  interest  as  it  fell 
due  has  been  regularly  paid  upon  them.  Our  commercial 
intercourse  with  Cuba  stands  as  regulated  by  the  act  of  Con- 
gress. No  recent  information  has  been  received  as  to  the 
disposition  of  the  Government  of  Madrid  on  this  subject, 
and  the  lamented  death  of  our  recently  appointed  minister 
on  his  way  to  Spain,  with  the  pressure  of  their  affairs  at 
home,  renders  it  scarcely  probable  that  any  change  is  to  be 
looked  for  during  the  coming  year.  Further  portions  of  the 
Florida  archives  have  been  sent  to  the  United  States,  al- 
though the  death  of  one  of  the  commissioners  at  a  critical 
moment  embarrassed  the  progress  of  the  delivery  of  them. 
The  higher  officers  of  the  local  government  have  recently 
shewn  an  anxious  desire,  in  compliance  with  the  orders  from 
the  parent  Government,  to  facilitate  the  selection  and  de- 
livery of  all  we  have  a  right  to  claim. 

Negotiations  have  been  opened  at  Madrid  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  lasting  peace  between  Spain  and  such  of  the 
Spanish  American  Governments  of  this  hemisphere  as  have 
availed  themselves  of  the  intimation  given  to  all  of  them  of 
the  disposition  of  Spain  to  treat  upon  the  basis  of  their  en- 
tire independence.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  simultaneous 
appointments  by  all  of  the  ministers  to  negotiate  with  Spain 
had  not  been  made.  The  negotiation  itself  would  have  been 
simplified,  and  this  long-standing  dispute,  spreading  over  a 
large  portion  of  the  world,  would  have  been  brought  to  a 
more  speedy  conclusion. 

Our  political  and  commercial  relations  with  Austria, 
Prussia,  Sweden,  and  Denmark  stand  on  the  usual  favorable 


Seventh  Annual  Message         4^3 

bases.  One  of  the  articles  of  our  treaty  with  Russia  in  re- 
lation to  the  trade  on  the  northwest  coast  of  America  having 
expired,  instructions  have  been  given  to  our  minister  at  St. 
Petersburg  to  negotiate  a  renewal  of  it.  The  long  and  un- 
broken amity  between  the  two  Governments  gives  every 
reason  for  supposing  the  article  will  be  renewed,  if  stronger 
motives  do  not  exist  to  prevent  it  than  with  our  view  of  the 
subject  can  be  anticipated  here. 

I  ask  your  attention  to  the  message  of  my  predecessor  at 
the  opening  of  the  second  session  of  the  Nineteenth  Con- 
gress, relative  to  our  commercial  intercourse  with  Holland, 
and  to  the  documents  connected  with  that  subject,  communi- 
cated to  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  loth  of  Jan- 
uary, 1825,  and  i8th  of  January,  1827.  Coinciding  in  the 
opinion  of  my  predecessor  that  Holland  is  not,  under  the 
regulations  of  her  present  system,  entitled  to  have  her  ves- 
sels and  their  cargoes  received  into  the  United  States  on  the 
footing  of  American  vessels  and  cargoes  as  regards  duties 
of  tonnage  and  impost,  a  respect  for  his  reference  of  it  to 
the  Legislature  has  alone  prevented  me  from  acting  on  the 
subject.  I  should  still  have  waited  without  comment  for  the 
action  of  Congress,  but  recently  a  claim  has  been  made  by 
Belgian  subjects  to  admission  into  our  ports  for  their  ships 
and  cargoes  on  the  same  footing  as  American,  with  the 
allegation  we  could  not  dispute  that  our  vessels  received  in 
their  ports  the  identical  treatment  shewn  to  them  in  the 
ports  of  Holland,  upon  whose  vessels  no  discrimination  is 
made  in  the  ports  of  the  United  States.  Giving  the  same 
privileges  the  Belgians  expected  the  same  benefits — benefits 
that  were,  in  fact,  enjoyed  when  Belgium  and  Holland  were 
united  under  one  Government.  Satisfied  with  the  justice  of 
their  pretension  to  be  placed  on  the  same  footing  with  Hol- 
land, I  could  not,  nevertheless,  without  disregard  to  the 
principle  of  our  laws,  admit  their  claim  to  be  treated  as 
Americans,  and  at  the  same  time  a  respect  for  Congress,  to 
whom  the  subject  had  long  since  been  referred,  has  pre- 
vented me  from  producing  a  just  equality  by  taking  from 
the  vessels  of  Holland  privileges  conditionally  granted  by 


4^4  Andrew  Jackson 

acts  of  Congress,  although  the  condition  upon  which  the 
grant  was  made  has,  in  my  judgment,  failed  since  1822. 
I  recommend,  therefore,  a  review  of  the  act  of  1824,  and 
such  a  modification  of  it  as  will  produce  an  equality  on 
such  terms  as  Congress  shall  think  best  comports  with  our 
settled  policy  and  the  obligations  of  justice  to  two  friendly 
powers. 

With  the  Sublime  Porte  and  all  the  Governments  on  the 
coast  of  Barbary  our  relations  continue  to  be  friendly.  The 
proper  steps  have  been  taken  to  renew  our  treaty  with  Mo- 
rocco. 

The  Argentine  Republic  has  again  promised  to  send  with- 
in the  current  year  a  minister  to  the  United  States. 

A  convention  with  Mexico  for  extending  the  time  for  the 
appointment  of  commissioners  to  run  the  boundary  line  has 
been  concluded  and  will  be  submitted  to  the  Senate.  Recent 
events  in  that  country  have  awakened  the  liveliest  solicitude 
in  the  United  States.  Aware  of  the  strong  temptations  ex- 
isting and  powerful  inducements  held  out  to  the  citizens  of 
the  United  States  to  mingle  in  the  dissensions  of  our  im- 
mediate neighbors,  instructions  have  been  given  to  the  dis- 
trict attorneys  of  the  United  States  where  indications  war- 
ranted it  to  prosecute  without  respect  to  persons  all  who 
might  attempt  to  violate  the  obligations  of  our  neutrality, 
while  at  the  same  time  it  has  been  thought  necessary  to 
apprise  the  Government  of  Mexico  that  we  should  require 
the  integrity  of  our  territory  to  be  scrupulously  respected  by 
both  parties. 

From  our  diplomatic  agents  in  Brazil,  Chile,  Peru,  Cen- 
tral America,  Venezuela,  and  New  Granada  constant  assur- 
ances are  received  of  the  continued  good  understanding  with 
the  Governments  to  which  they  are  severally  accredited. 
With  those  Governments  upon  which  our  citizens  have  valid 
and  accumulating  claims,  scarcely  an  advance  toward  a  set- 
tlement of  them  is  made,  owing  mainly  to  their  distracted 
state  or  to  the  pressure  of  imperative  domestic  questions. 
Our  patience  has  been  and  will  probably  be  still  further  se- 
verely tried,  but  our  fellow-citizens  whose  interests  are  in- 


Seventh  Annual  Message  4^5 

volved  may  confide  in  the  determination  of  the  Government 
to  obtain  for  them  eventually  ample  retribution. 

Unfortunately,  many  of  the  nations  of  this  hemisphere 
are  still  self-tormented  by  domestic  dissensions.  Revolution 
succeeds  revolution;  injuries  are  committed  upon  foreigners 
engaged  in  lawful  pursuits;  much  time  elapses  before  a  gov- 
ernment sufficiently  stable  is  erected  to  justify  expectation 
of  redress;  ministers  are  sent  and  received,  and  before  the 
discussions  of  past  injuries  are  fairly  begun  fresh  troubles 
arise;  but  too  frequently  new  injuries  are  added  to  the  old, 
to  be  discussed  together  with  the  existing  government  after 
it  has  proved  its  ability  to  sustain  the  assaults  made  upon  it, 
or  with  its  successor  if  overthrown.  If  this  unhappy  condi- 
tion of  things  continues  much  longer,  other  nations  will  be 
under  the  painful  necessity  of  deciding  whether  justice  to 
their  suffering  citizens  does  not  require  a  prompt  redress  of 
injuries  by  their  own  power,  without  waiting  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  government  competent  and  enduring  enough 
to  discuss  and  to  make  satisfaction  for  them. 

Since  the  last  session  of  Congress  the  validity  of  our 
claims  upon  France,  as  liquidated  by  the  treaty  of  1831,  has 
been  acknowledged  by  both  branches  of  her  legislature,  and 
the  money  has  been  appropriated  for  their  discharge ;  but  the 
payment  is,  I  regret  to  inform  you,  still  withheld. 

A  brief  recapitulation  of  the  most  important  incidents  in 
this  protracted  controversy  will  shew  how  utterly  untenable 
are  the  grounds  upon  which  this  course  is  attempted  to  be 
justified. 

On  entering  upon  the  duties  of  my  station  I  found  the 
United  States  an  unsuccessful  applicant  to  the  justice  of 
France  for  the  satisfaction  of  claims  the  validity  of  which 
was  never  questionable,  and  has  now  been  most  solemnly 
admitted  by  France  herself.  The  antiquity  of  these  claims, 
their  high  justice,  and  the  aggravating  circumstances  out  of 
which  they  arose  are  too  familiar  to  the  American  people  to 
require  description.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  for  a  period 
of  ten  years  and  upward  our  commerce  was,  with  but  little 
interruption,  the  subject  of  constant  aggressions  on  the  part 


4o6  Andrew  Jackson 

of  France — aggressions  the  ordinary  features  of  which  were 
condemnations  of  vessels  and  cargoes  under  arbitrary  de- 
crees, adopted  in  contravention  as  well  of  the  laws  of  na- 
tions as  of  treaty  stipulations,  burnings  on  the  high  seas, 
and  seizures  and  confiscations  under  special  imperial  re- 
scripts in  the  ports  of  other  nations  occupied  by  the  armies 
or  under  the  control  of  France.  Such  it  is  now  conceded 
is  the  character  of  the  wrongs  we  suffered — wrongs  in  many 
cases  so  flagrant  that  even  their  authors  never  denied  our 
right  to  reparation.  Of  the  extent  of  these  injuries  some 
conception  may  be  formed  from  the  fact  that  after  the  burn- 
ing of  a  large  amount  at  sea  and  the  necessary  deterioration 
in  other  cases  by  long  detention  the  American  property  so 
seized  and  sacrificed  at  forced  sales,  excluding  what  was 
adjudged  to  privateers  before  or  without  condemnation, 
brought  into  the  French  treasury  upward  of  24,000,000 
francs,  besides  large  custom-house  duties. 

The  subject  had  already  been  an  affair  of  twenty  years' 
uninterrupted  negotiation,  except  for  a  short  time  when 
France  was  overwhelmed  by  the  military  power  of  united 
Europe.  During  this  period,  whilst  other  nations  were  ex- 
torting from  her  payment  of  their  claims  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet,  the  United  States  intermitted  their  demand  for  jus- 
tice out  of  respect  to  the  oppressed  condition  of  a  gallant 
people  to  whom  they  felt  under  obligations  for  fraternal 
assistance  in  their  own  days  of  suffering  and  of  peril.  The 
bad  effects  of  these  protracted  and  unavailing  discussions, 
as  well  upon  our  relations  with  France  as  upon  our  national 
character,  were  obvious,  and  the  line  of  duty  was  to  my 
mind  equally  so.  This  was  either  to  insist  upon  the  adjust- 
ment of  our  claims  within  a  reasonable  period  or  to  aban- 
don them  altogether.  I  could  not  doubt  that  by  this  course 
the  interests  and  honor  of  both  countries  would  be  best  con- 
sulted. Instructions  were  therefore  given  in  this  spirit  to 
the  minister  who  was  sent  out  once  more  to  demand  repara- 
tion. Upon  the  meeting  of  Congress  in  December,  1829,  I 
felt  it  my  duty  to  speak  of  these  claims  and  the  delays  of 
France  in  terms  calculated  to  call  the  serious  attention  of 


Seventh  Annual  Message  4^7 

both  countries  to  the  subject.  The  then  French  ministry 
took  exception  to  the  message  on  the  ground  of  its  contain- 
ing a  menace,  under  which  it  was  not  agreeable  to  the 
French  Government  to  negotiate.  The  American  minister 
of  his  own  accord  refuted  the  construction  which  was  at- 
tempted to  be  put  upon  the  message  and  at  the  same  time 
called  to  the  recollection  of  the  French  ministry  that  the 
President's  message  was  a  communication  addressed,  not  to 
foreign  governments,  but  to  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  in  which  it  was  enjoined  upon  him  by  the  Constitu- 
tion to  lay  before  that  body  information  of  the  state  of  the 
Union,  comprehending  its  foreign  as  well  as  its  domestic 
relations,  and  that  if  in  the  discharge  of  this  duty  he  felt  it 
incumbent  upon  him  to  summon  the  attention  of  Congress 
in  due  time  to  what  might  be  the  possible  consequences  of 
existing  difficulties  with  any  foreign  government,  he  might 
fairly  be  supposed  to  do  so  under  a  sense  of  what  was  due 
from  him  in  a  frank  communication  with  another  branch 
of  his  own  Government,  and  not  from  any  intention  of 
holding  a  menace  over  a  foreign  power.  The  views  taken 
by  him  received  my  approbation,  the  French  Government 
was  satisfied,  and  the  negotiation  w^as  continued.  It  ter- 
minated in  the  treaty  of  July  4,  1831,  recognizing  the  jus- 
tice of  our  claims  in  part  and  promising  payment  to  the 
amount  of  25,000,000  francs  in  six  annual  installments. 

The  ratifications  of  this  treaty  were  exchanged  at  Wash- 
ington on  the  2d  of  February,  1832,  and  in  five  days  there- 
after it  was  laid  before  Congress,  who  immediately  passed 
the  acts  necessary  on  our  part  to  secure  to  France  the  com- 
mercial advantages  conceded  to  her  in  the  compact.  The 
treaty  had  previously  been  solemnly  ratified  by  the  King 
of  the  French  in  terms  which  are  certainly  not  mere  matters 
of  form,  and  of  which  the  translation  is  as  follows : 

We,  approving  the  above  convention  in  all  and  each  of 
the  dispositions  which  are  contained  in  it,  do  declare,  by  our- 
selves as  well  as  by  our  heirs  and  successors,  that  it  is  ac- 
cepted, approved,  ratified,  and  confirmed,  and  by  these  pres- 


4o8  Andrew  Jackson 

ents,  signed  by  our  hand,  we  do  accept,  approve,  ratify,  and 
confirm  it;  promising,  on  the  faith  and  word  of  a  king,  to 
observe  it  and  to  cause  it  to  be  observed  inviolably,  without 
ever  contravening  it  or  suffering  it  to  be  contravened,  di- 
rectly or  indirectly,  for  any  cause  or  under  any  pretense 
whatsoever. 

Official  information  of  the  exchange  of  ratifications  in  the 
United  States  reached  Paris  whilst  the  Chambers  were  in 
session.  The  extraordinary  and  to  us  injurious  delays  of 
the  French  Government  in  their  action  upon  the  subject  of 
its  fulfillment  have  been  heretofore  stated  to  Congress,  and 
I  have  no  disposition  to  enlarge  upon  them  here.  It  is 
sufficient  to  observe  that  the  then  pending  session  was  al- 
lowed to  expire*  without  even  an  effort  to  obtain  the  neces- 
sary appropriations ;  that  the  two  succeeding  ones  were  also 
suffered  to  pass  away  without  anything  like  a  serious  at- 
tempt to  obtain  a  decision  upon  the  subject,  and  that  it  was 
not  until  the  fourth  session,  almost  three  years  after  the 
conclusion  of  the  treaty  and  more  than  two  years  after  the 
exchange  of  ratifications,  that  the  bill  for  the  execution  of 
the  treaty  was  pressed  to  a  vote  and  rejected. 

In  the  meantime  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
having  full  confidence  that  a  treaty  entered  into  and  so  sol- 
emnly ratified  by  the  French  King  would  be  executed  in 
good  faith,  and  not  doubting  that  provision  would  be  made 
for  the  payment  of  the  first  installment  which  was  to  be- 
come due  on  the  2d  day  of  February,  1833,  negotiated  a 
draft  for  the  amount  through  the  Bank  of  the  United  States. 
When  this  draft  was  presented  by  the  holder  with  the  cre- 
denials  required  by  the  treaty  to  authorize  him  to  receive  the 
money,  the  Government  of  France  allowed  it  to  be  pro- 
tested. In  addition  to  the  injury  in  the  nonpayment  of  the 
money  by  France,  conformably  to  her  engagement,  the 
United  States  were  exposed  to  a  heavy  claim  on  the  part 
of  the  bank  under  pretense  of  damages,  in  satisfaction  of 
which  that  institution  seized  upon  and  still  retains  an  equal 
amount  of  the  public  money.  Congress  was  in  session  when 
the  decision  of  the  Chambers  reached  Washington,  and  an 


Seventh   Annual  Message  4^9 

immediate  communication  of  this  apparently  final  decision 
of  France  not  to  fulfill  the  stipulations  of  the  treaty  was 
the  course  naturally  to  be  expected  from  the  President.  The 
deep  tone  of  dissatisfaction  which  pervaded  the  public 
mind  and  the  correspondent  excitement  produced  in  Con- 
gress by  only  a  general  knowledge  of  the  result  rendered  it 
more  than  probable  that  a  resort  to  immediate  measures  of 
redress  would  be  the  consequence  of  calling  the  attention  of 
that  body  to  the  subject.  Sincerely  desirous  of  preserving 
the  pacific  relations  which  had  so  long  existed  between  the 
two  countries,  I  was  anxious  to  avoid  this  course  if  I  could 
be  satisfied  that  by  doing  so  neither  the  interests  nor  the 
honor  of  my  country  would  be  compromitted.  Without  the 
fullest  assurances  upon  that  point,  I  could  not  hope  to  ac- 
quit myself  of  the  responsibility  to  be  incurred  in  suffering 
Congress  to  adjourn  without  laying  the  subject  before  them. 
Those  received  by  me  were  believed  to  be  of  that  character. 
That  the  feelings  produced  in  the  United  States  by  the 
news  of  the  rejection  of  the  appropriation  would  be  such  as 
I  have  described  them  to  have  been  was  foreseen  by  the 
French  Government,  and  prompt  measures  were  taken  by  it 
to  prevent  the  consequences.  The  King  in  person  expressed 
through  our  minister  at  Paris  his  profound  regret  at  the 
decision  of  the  Chambers,  and  promised  to  send  forthwith 
a  national  ship  with  dispatches  to  his  minister  here  author- 
izing him  to  give  such  assurances  as  would  satisfy  the  Gov- 
ernment and  people  of  the  United  States  that  the  treaty 
would  yet  be  faithfully  executed  by  France.  The  national 
ship  arrived,  and  the  minister  received  his  instructions. 
Claiming  to  act  under  the  authority  derived  from  them, 
he  gave  to  this  Government  in  the  name  of  his  the  most 
solemn  assurances  that  as  soon  after  the  new  elections  as 
the  charter  would  permit  the  French  Chambers  would  be 
convened  and  the  attempt  to  procure  the  necessary  appro- 
priations renewed ;  that  all  the  constitutional  powers  of  the 
King  and  his  ministers  should  be  put  in  requisition  to  ac- 
complish the  object,  and  he  was  understood,  and  so  ex- 
pressly informed  by  this  Government  at  the  time,  to  engage 


4IO  Andrew  Jackson 

that  the  question  should  be  pressed  to  a  decision  at  a  period 
sufficiently  early  to  permit  information  of  the  result  to  be 
communicated  to  Congress  at  the  commencement  of  their 
next  session.  Relying  upon  these  assurances,  I  incurred 
the  responsibility,  great  as  I  regarded  it  to  be,  of  suffering 
Congress  to  separate  without  communicating  with  them 
upon  the  subject. 

The  expectations  justly  founded  upon  the  promises  thus 
solemnly  made  to  this  Government  by  that  of  France  were 
not  realized.  The  French  Chambers  met  on  the  31st  of  July, 
1834,  soon  after  the  election,  and  although  our  minister  in 
Paris  urged  the  French  ministry  to  bring  the  subject  before 
them,  they  declined  doing  so.  He  next  insisted  that  the 
Chambers,  if  prorogued  without  acting  on  the  subject, 
should  be  reassembled  at  a  period  so  early  that  their  action 
on  the  treaty  might  be  known  in  Washington  prior  to  the 
meeting  of  Congress.  This  reasonable  request  was  not  only 
declined,  but  the  Chambers  were  prorogued  to  the  29th  of 
December,  a  day  so  late  that  their  decision,  however  ur- 
gently pressed,  could  not  in  all  probability  be  obtained  in 
time  to  reach  Washington  before  the  necessary  adjournment 
of  Congress  by  the  Constitution.  The  reasons  given  by  the 
ministry  for  refusing  to  convoke  the  Chambers  at  an  earlier 
period  were  afterwards  shewn  not  to  be  insuperable  by  their 
actual  convocation  on  the  ist  of  December  under  a  special 
call  for  domestic  purposes,  which  fact,  however,  did  not 
become  known  to  this  Government  until  after  the  com- 
mencement of  the  last  session  of  Congress. 

Thus  disappointed  in  our  just  expectations,  it  became  my 
imperative  duty  to  consult  with  Congress  in  regard  to  the 
expediency  of  a  resort  to  retaliatory  measures  in  case  the 
stipulations  of  the  treaty  should  not  be  speedily  complied 
with,  and  to  recommend  such  as  in  my  judgment  the  occa- 
sion called  for.  To  this  end  an  unreserved  communication 
of  the  case  in  all  its  aspects  became  indispensable.  To  have 
shrunk  in  making  it  from  saying  all  that  was  necessary  to 
its  correct  understanding,  and  that  the  truth  would  justify, 
for  fear  of  giving  offense  to  others,  would  have  been  un- 


Seventh  Annual  Message  4^1 

worthy  of  us.  To  have  gone,  on  the  other  hand,  a  single 
step  further  for  the  purpose  of  wounding  the  pride  of  a 
Government  and  people  with  whom  we  had  so  many  motives 
for  cultivating  relations  of  amity  and  reciprocal  advantage 
would  have  been  unwise  and  improper.  Admonished  by  the 
past  of  the  difficulty  of  making  even  the  simplest  statement 
of  our  wrongs  without  disturbing  the  sensibilities  of  those 
who  had  by  their  position  become  responsible  for  their  re- 
dress, and  earnestly  desirous  of  preventing  further  ob- 
stacles from  that  source,  I  went  out  of  my  way  to  preclude 
a  construction  of  the  message  by  which  the  recommenda- 
tion that  was  made  to  Congress  might  be  regarded  as  a 
menace  to  France  in  not  only  disavowing  such  a  design, 
but  in  declaring  that  her  pride  and  her  power  were  too  well 
known  to  expect  anything  from  her  fears.  The  message 
did  not  reach  Paris  until  more  than  a  month  after  the  Cham- 
bers had  been  in  session,  and  such  was  the  insensibility  of 
the  ministry  to  our  rightful  claims  and  just  expectations 
that  our  minister  had  been  informed  that  the  matter  when 
introduced  would  not  be  pressed  as  a  cabinet  measure. 

Although  the  message  was  not  officially  communicated  to 
the  French  Government,  and  notwithstanding  the  declara- 
tion to  the  contrary  which  it  contained,  the  French  ministry 
decided  to  consider  the  conditional  recommendation  of  re- 
prisals a  menace  and  an  insult  which  the  honor  of  the  na- 
tion made  it  incumbent  on  them  to  resent.  The  measures 
resorted  to  by  them  to  evince  their  sense  of  the  supposed  in- 
dignity were  the  immediate  recall  of  their  minister  at  Wash- 
ington, the  offer  of  passports  to  the  American  minister  at 
Paris,  and  a  public  notice  to  the  legislative  Chambers  that 
all  diplomatic  intercourse  with  the  United  States  had  been 
suspended.  Having  in  this  manner  vindicated  the  dignity 
of  France,  they  next  proceeded  to  illustrate  her  justice.  To 
this  end  a  bill  was  immediately  introduced  into  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  proposing  to  make  the  appropriations  neces- 
sary to  carry  into  effect  the  treaty.  As  this  bill  subsequently 
passed  into  a  law,  the  provisions  of  which  now  constitute 
the  main  subject  of  difficulty  between  the  two  nations,  it 


412  Andrew  Jackson 

becomes  my  duty,  in  order  to  place  the  subject  before  you 
in  a  clear  light,  to  trace  the  history  of  its  passage  and  to 
refer  with  some  particularity  to  the  proceedings  and  dis- 
cussions in  regard  to  it. 

The  minister  of  finance  in  his  opening  speech  alluded  to 
the  measures  which  had  been  adopted  to  resent  the  supposed 
indignity,  and  recommended  the  execution  of  the  treaty  as 
a  measure  required  by  the  honor  and  justice  of  France. 
He  as  the  organ  of  the  ministry  declared  the  message,  so 
long  as  it  had  not  received  the  sanction  of  Congress,  a  mere 
expression  of  the  personal  opinion  of  the  President,  for 
which  neither  the  Government  nor  people  of  the  United 
States  were  responsible,  and  that  an  engagement  had  been 
entered  into  for  the  fulfillment  of  which  the  honor  of  France 
was  pledged.  Entertaining  these  views,  the  single  condi- 
tion which  the  French  ministry  proposed  to  annex  to  the 
payment  of  the  money  was  that  it  should  not  be  made  until 
it  was  ascertained  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
had  done  nothing  to  injure  the  interests  of  France,  or,  in 
other  words,  that  no  steps  had  been  authorized  by  Congress 
of  a  hostile  character  toward  France. 

What  the  disposition  or  action  of  Congress  might  be  was 
then  unknown  to  the  French  cabinet;  but  on  the  14th  of 
January  the  Senate  resolved  that  it  was  at  that  time  inex- 
pedient to  adopt  any  legislative  measures  in  regard  to  the 
state  of  affairs  between  the  United  States  and  France,  and 
no  action  on  the  subject  had  occurred  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives. These  facts  were  known  in  Paris  prior  to  the 
28th  of  March,  1835,  when  the  committee  to  whom  the  bill 
of  indemnification  had  been  referred  reported  it  to  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies.  That  committee  substantially  re- 
echoed the  sentiments  of  the  ministry,  declared  that  Con- 
gress had  set  aside  the  proposition  of  the  President,  and 
recommended  the  passage  of  the  bill  without  any  other  re- 
striction than  that  originally  proposed.  Thus  was  it  known 
to  the  French  ministry  and  Chambers  that  if  the  position 
assumed  by  them,  and  which  had  been  so  frequently  and  sol- 
emnly announced  as  the  only  one  compatible  with  the  honor 


Seventh  Annual  Message  4^3 

of  France,  was  maintained  and  the  bill  passed  as  originally 
proposed,  the  money  would  be  paid  and  there  would  be  an 
end  of  this  unfortunate  controversy. 

But  this  cheering  prospect  was  soon  destroyed  by  an 
amendment  introduced  into  the  bill  at  the  moment  of  its 
passage,  providing  that  the  money  should  not  be  paid  until 
the  French  Government  had  received  satisfactory  explana- 
tions of  the  President's  message  of  the  2d  December,  1834, 
and,  what  is  still  more  extraordinary,  the  president  of  the 
council  of  ministers  adopted  this  amendment  and  consented 
to  its  incorporation  in  the  bill.  In  regard  to  a  supposed  in- 
sult which  had  been  formally  resented  by  the  recall  of  their 
minister  and  the  offer  of  passports  to  ours,  they  now  for  the 
first  time  proposed  to  ask  explanations.  Sentiments  and 
propositions  which  they  had  declared  could  not  justly  be  im- 
puted to  the  Government  or  people  of  the  United  States  are 
set  up  as  obstacles  to  the  performance  of  an  act  of  con- 
ceded justice  to  that  Government  and  people.  They  had 
declared  that  the  honor  of  France  required  the  fulfillment  of 
the  engagement  into  which  the  King  had  entered,  unless 
Congress  adopted  the  recommendations  of  the  message. 
They  ascertained  that  Congress  did  not  adopt  them,  and 
yet  that  fulfillment  is  refused  unless  they  first  obtain  from 
the  President  explanations  of  an  opinion  characterized  by 
themselves  as  personal  and  inoperative. 

The  conception  that  it  was  my  intention  to  menace  or  in- 
sult the  Government  of  France  is  as  unfounded  as  the  at- 
tempt to  extort  from  the  fears  of  that  nation  what  her 
sense  of  justice  may  deny  would  be  vain  and  ridiculous. 
But  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  imposes  on  the 
President  the  duty  of  laying  before  Congress  the  condition 
of  the  country  in  its  foreign  and  domestic  relations,  and  of 
recommending  such  measures  as  may  in  his  opinion  be  re- 
quired by  its  interests.  From  the  performance  of  this  duty 
he  cannot  be  deterred  by  the  fear  of  wounding  the  sensi- 
bilities of  the  people  or  government  of  whom  it  may  become 
necessary  to  speak;  and  the  American  people  are  incapable 
of  submitting  to  an  interference  by  any  government  on 


4H  Andrew  Jackson 

earth,  however  powerful,  with  the  free  performance  of  the 
domestic  duties  which  the  Constitution  has  imposed  on 
their  pubHc  functionaries.  The  discussions  which  intervene 
between  the  several  departments  of  our  Government  belong 
to  ourselves,  and  for  anything  said  in  them  our  public  serv- 
ants are  only  responsible  to  their  own  constituents  and  to 
each  other.  If  in  the  course  of  their  consultations  facts  are 
erroneously  stated  or  unjust  deductions  are  made,  they  re- 
quire no  other  inducement  to  correct  them,  however  in- 
formed of  their  error^  than  their  love  of  justice  and  what  is 
due  to  their  own  character ;  but  they  can  never  submit  to  be 
interrogated  upon  the  subject  as  a  matter  of  right  by  a 
foreign  power.  When  our  discussions  terminate  in  acts, 
our  responsibility  to  foreign  powers  commences,  not  as  in- 
dividuals, but  as  a  nation.  The  principle  which  calls  in 
question  the  President  for  the  language  of  his  message 
would  equally  justify  a  foreign  power  in  demanding  ex- 
planation of  the  language  used  in  the  report  of  a  committee 
or  by  a  member  in  debate. 

This  is  not  the  first  time  that  the  Government  of  France 
has  taken  exception  to  the  messages  of  American  Presidents. 
President  Washington  and  the  first  President  Adams  in  the 
performance  of  their  duties  to  the  American  people  fell  un- 
der the  animadversions  of  the  French  Directory.  The  ob- 
jection taken  by  the  ministry  of  Charles  X,  and  removed  by 
the  explanations  made  by  our  minister  upon  the  spot,  has 
already  been  adverted  to.  When  it  was  understood  that 
the  ministry  of  the  present  King  took  exception  to  my  mes- 
sage of  last  year,  putting  a  construction  upon  it  which  was 
disavowed  on  its  face,  our  late  minister  at  Paris,  in  answer 
to  the  note  which  first  announced  a  dissatisfaction  with  the 
language  used  in  the  message,  made  a  communication  to 
the  French  Government  under  date  of  the  29th  of  January, 
1835,  calculated  to  remove  all  impressions  which  an  unrea- 
sonable susceptibility  had  created.  He  repeated  and  called 
the  attention  of  the  French  Government  to  the  disavowal 
contained  in  the  message  itself  of  any  intention  to  intimi- 
date by  menace;  he  truly  declared  that  it  contained  and 


Seventh  Annual  Message  4^5 

was  intended  to  contain  no  charge  of  ill  faith  against  the 
King  of  the  French,  and  properly  distinguished  between  the 
right  to  complain  in  unexceptionable  terms  of  the  omission 
to  execute  an  agreement  and  an  accusation  of  bad  motives 
in  withholding  such  execution,  and  demonstrated  that  the 
necessary  use  of  that  right  ought  not  to  be  considered  as  an 
offensive  imputation.  Although  this  communication  was 
made  without  instructions  and  entirely  on  the  minister's 
own  responsibility,  yet  it  was  afterwards  made  the  act  of 
this  Government  by  my  full  approbation,  and  that  approba- 
tion was  officially  made  known  on  the  25th  of  April,  1835, 
to  the  French  Government.  It,  however,  failed  to  have  any 
effect.  The  law,  after  this  friendly  explanation,  passed  with 
the  obnoxious  amendment,  supported  by  the  King's  minis- 
ters, and  was  finally  approved  by  the  King. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  are  justly  attached  to  a 
pacific  system  in  their  intercourse  with  foreign  nations.  It 
is  proper,  therefore,  that  they  should  know  whether  their 
Government  has  adhered  to  it.  In  the  present  instance  it 
has  been  carried  to  the  utmost  extent  that  was  consistent 
with  a  becoming  self-respect.  The  note  of  the  29th  of  Jan- 
uary, to  which  I  have  before  alluded,  was  not  the  only  one 
which  our  minister  took  upon  himself  the  responsibility  of 
presenting  on  the  same  subject  and  in  the  same  spirit.  Find- 
ing that  it  was  intended  to  make  the  payment  of  a  just  debt 
dependent  on  the  performance  of  a  condition  which  he  knew 
could  never  be  complied  with,  he  thought  it  a  duty  to  make 
another  attempt  to  convince  the  French  Government  that 
whilst  self-respect  and  regard  to  the  dignity  of  other  na- 
tions would  always  prevent  us  from  using  any  language  that 
ought  to  give  offense,  yet  we  could  never  admit  a  right  in 
any  foreign  government  to  ask  explanations  of  or  to  inter- 
fere in  any  manner  in  the  communications  which  one  branch 
of  our  public  councils  made  with  another ;  that  in  the  pres- 
ent case  no  such  language  had  been  used,  and  that  this  had 
in  a  former  note  been  fully  and  voluntarily  stated,  before  it 
was  contemplated  to  make  the  explanation  a  condition ;  and 
that  there  might  be  no  misapprehension  he  stated  the  terms 


4^6  Andrew  Jackson 

used  in  that  note,  and  he  officially  informed  them  that  it 
had  been  approved  by  the  President,  and  that  therefore 
every  explanation  which  could  reasonably  be  asked  or  hon- 
orably given  had  been  already  made ;  that  the  contemplated 
measure  had  been  anticipated  by  a  voluntary  and  friendly 
declaration,  and  vv^as  therefore  not  only  useless,  but  might 
be  deemed  offensive,  and  certainly  would  not  be  complied 
with  if  annexed  as  a  condition. 

When  this  latter  communication,  to  which  I  especially 
invite  the  attention  of  Congress,  was  laid  before  me,  I  en- 
tertained the  hope  that  the  means  it  was  obviously  intended 
to  afford  of  an  honorable  and  speedy  adjustment  of  the  diffi- 
culties between  the  two  nations  would  have  been  accepted, 
and  I  therefore  did  not  hesitate  to  give  it  my  sanction  and 
full  approbation.  This  was  due  to  the  minister  who  had 
made  himself  responsible  for  the  act,  and  it  was  published 
to  the  people  of  the  United  States  and  is  now  laid  before 
their  representatives  to  shew  how  far  their  Executive  has 
gone  in  its  endeavors  to  restore  a  good  understanding  be- 
tween the  two  countries.  It  would  have  been  at  any  time 
communicated  to  the  Government  of  France  had  it  been  of- 
ficially requested. 

The  French  Government  having  received  all  the  expla- 
nation which  honor  and  principle  permitted,  and  which 
could  in  reason  be  asked,  it  was  hoped  it  would  no  longer 
hesitate  to  pay  the  installments  now  due.  The  agent  au- 
thorized to  receive  the  money  was  instructed  to  inform  the 
French  minister  of  his  readiness  to  do  so.  In  reply  to 
this  notice  he  was  told  that  the  money  could  not  then  be 
paid,  because  the  formalities  required  by  the  act  of  the 
Chambers  had  not  been  arranged. 

Not  having  received  any  official  information  of  the  inten- 
tions of  the  French  Government,  and  anxious  to  bring,  as 
far  as  practicable,  this  unpleasant  affair  to  a  close  before 
the  meeting  of  Congress,  that  you  might  have  the  whole 
subject  before  you,  I  caused  our  charge  d'affaires  at  Paris 
to  be  instructed  to  ask  for  the  final  determination  of  the 
French  Government,  and  in  the  event  of  their  refusal  to  pay 


Seventh  Annual  Message  4^7 

the  installments  now  due,  without  further  explanations  to 
return  to  the  United  States, 

The  result  of  this  last  application  has  not  yet  reached  us, 
but  is  daily  expected.  That  it  may  be  favorable  is  my  sin- 
cere wish.  France  having  now,  through  all  the  branches  of 
her  Government,  acknowledged  the  validity  of  our  claims 
and  the  obligation  of  the  treaty  of  1831,  and  there  really  ex- 
isting no  adequate  cause  for  further  delay,  will  at  length, 
it  may  be  hoped,  adopt  the  course  which  the  interests  of 
both  nations,  not  less  than  the  principles  of  justice,  so  im- 
periously require.  The  treaty  being  once  executed  on  her 
part,  little  will  remain  to  disturb  the  friendly  relations  of 
the  two  countries — nothing,  indeed,  which  will  not  yield 
to  the  suggestions  of  a  pacific  and  enlightened  policy  and  to 
the  influence  of  that  mutual  good  will  and  of  those  generous 
recollections  which  we  may  confidently  expect  will  then  be 
revived  in  all  their  ancient  force.  In  any  event,  however, 
the  principle  involved  in  the  new  aspect  which  has  been 
given  to  the  controversy  is  so  vitally  important  to  the  in- 
dependent administration  of  the  Government  that  it  can 
neither  be  surrendered  nor  compromitted  without  national 
degradation.  I  hope  it  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  say  that 
such  a  sacrifice  will  not  be  made  through  any  agency  of 
mine.  The  honor  of  my  country  shall  never  be  stained  by 
an  apology  from  me  for  the  statement  of  truth  and  the  per- 
formance of  duty;  nor  can  I  give  any  explanation  of  my 
official  acts  except  such  as  is  due  to  integrity  and  justice  and 
consistent  with  the  principles  on  which  our  institutions  have 
been  framed.  This  determination  will,  I  am  confident,  be 
approved  by  my  constituents.  I  have,  indeed,  studied  their 
character  to  but  little  purpose  if  the  sum  of  25,000,000 
francs  will  have  the  weight  of  a  feather  in  the  estimation 
of  what  appertains  to  their  national  independence,  and  if, 
unhappily,  a  different  impression  should  at  any  time  obtain 
in  any  quarter,  they  will,  I  am  sure,  rally  round  the  Gov- 
ernment of  their  choice  with  alacrity  and  unanimity,  and 
silence  forever  the  degrading  imputation. 

Having  thus  frankly  presented  to  you  the  circumstances 


41 8  Andrew  Jackson 

which  since  the  last  session  of  Congress  have  occurred  in 
this  interesting  and  important  matter,  with  the  views  of  the 
Executive  in  regard  to  them,  it  is  at  this  time  only  neces- 
sary to  add  that  whenever  the  advices  now  daily  expected 
from  our  charge  d'affaires  shall  have  been  received  they 
will  be  made  the  subject  of  a  special  communication. 

The  condition  of  the  public  finances  was  never  more  flat- 
tering than  at  the  present  period. 

Since  my  last  annual  communication  all  the  remains  of 
the  public  debt  have  been  redeemed,  or  money  has  been 
placed  in  deposit  for  this  purpose  whenever  the  creditors 
choose  to  receive  it.  All  the  other  pecuniary  engagements 
of  the  Government  have  been  honorably  and  promptly  ful- 
filled, and  there  will  be  a  balance  in  the  Treasury  at  the 
close  of  the  present  year  of  about  $19,000,000.  It  is  be- 
lieved that  after  meeting  all  outstanding  and  unexpended 
appropriations  there  will  remain  near  eleven  millions  to  be 
applied  to  any  new  objects  which  Congress  may  designate 
or  to  the  more  rapid  execution  of  the  works  already  in 
progress.  In  aid  of  these  objects,  and  to  satisfy  the  cur- 
rent expenditures  of  the  ensuing  year,  it  is  estimated  that 
there  will  be  received  from  various  sources  twenty  millions 
more  in  1836. 

Should  Congress  make  new  appropriations  in  conformity 
with  the  estimates  which  will  be  submitted  from  the  proper 
Departments,  amounting  to  about  twenty-four  millions,  still 
the  available  surplus  at  the  close  of  the  next  year,  after  de- 
ducting all  unexpended  appropriations,  will  probably  not  be 
less  than  six  millions.  This  sum  can,  in  my  judgment,  be 
now  usefully  applied  to  proposed  improvements  in  our 
navy-yards,  and  to  new  national  works  which  are  not  enu- 
merated in  the  present  estimates  or  to  the  more  rapid  com- 
pletion of  those  already  begun.  Either  would  be  consti- 
tutional and  useful,  and  would  render  unnecessary  any 
attempt  in  our  present  peculiar  condition  to  divide  the  sur- 
plus revenue  or  to  reduce  it  any  faster  than  will  be  effected 
by  the  existing  laws.  In  any  event,  as  the  annual  report 
from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  will  enter  into  details, 


Seventh  Annual  Message         4^9 

shewing  the  probabiUty  of  some  decrease  in  the  revenue 
during  the  next  seven  years  and  a  very  considerable  de- 
duction in  1842,  it  is  not  recommended  that  Congress  should 
undertake  to  modify  the  present  tariff  so  as  to  disturb  the 
principles  on  which  the  compromise  act  was  passed.  Tax- 
ation on  some  of  the  articles  of  general  consumption  which 
are  not  in  competition  with  our  own  productions  may  be 
no  doubt  so  diminished  as  to  lessen  to  some  extent  the 
source  of  this  revenue,  and  the  same  object  can  also  be 
assisted  by  more  liberal  provisions  for  the  subjects  of  pub- 
lic defense,  which  in  the  present  state  of  our  prosperity  and 
wealth  may  be  expected  to  engage  your  attention.  If,  how- 
ever, after  satisfying  all  the  demands  which  can  arise  from 
these  sources  the  unexpended  balance  in  the  Treasury  should 
still  continue  to  increase,  it  would  be  better  to  bear  with 
the  evil  until  the  great  changes  contemplated  in  our  tariff 
laws  have  occurred  and  shall  enable  us  to  revise  the  sys- 
tem with  that  care  and  circumspection  which  are  due  to  so 
delicate  and  important  a  subject. 

It  is  certainly  our  duty  to  diminish  as  far  as  we  can  the 
burdens  of  taxation  and  to  regard  all  the  restrictions  which 
are  imposed  on  the  trade  and  navigation  of  our  citizens  as 
evils  which  we  shall  mitigate  whenever  we  are  not  pre- 
vented by  the  adverse  legislation  and  policy  of  foreign  na- 
tions or  those  primary  duties  which  the  defense  and  in- 
dependence of  our  country  enjoin  upon  us.  That  we  have 
accomplished  much  toward  the  relief  of  our  citizens  by  the 
changes  which  have  accompanied  the  payment  of  the  public 
debt  and  the  adoption  of  the  present  revenue  laws  is  mani- 
fest from  the  fact  that  compared  with  1833  there  is  a  dim- 
inution of  near  twenty-five  millions  in  the  last  two  years, 
and  that  our  expenditures,  independently  of  those  for  the 
public  debt,  have  been  reduced  near  nine  millions  during  the 
same  period.  Let  us  trust  that  by  the  continued  observ- 
ance of  economy  and  by  harmonizing  the  great  interests  of 
agriculture,  manufactures,  and  commerce  much  more  may 
be  accomplished  to  diminish  the  burdens  of  government 
and  to  increase  still  further  the  enterprise  and  the  patriotic 


420  Andrew  Jackson 

affection  of  all  classes  of  our  citizens  and  all  the  members 
of  our  happy  Confederacy.  As  the  data  which  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury  will  lay  before  you  in  regard  to  our 
financial  resources  are  full  and  extended,  and  will  afford  a 
safe  guide  in  your  future  calculations,  I  think  it  unneces- 
sary to  offer  any  further  observations  on  that  subject  here. 

Among  the  evidences  of  the  increasing  prosperity  of  the 
country,  not  the  least  gratifying  is  that  afforded  by  the  re- 
ceipts from  the  sales  of  the  public  lands,  which  amount  in 
the  present  year  to  the  unexpected  sum  of  $11,000,000. 
This  circumstance  attests  the  rapidity  with  which  agricul- 
ture, the  first  and  most  important  occupation  of  man,  ad- 
vances and  contributes  to  the  wealth  and  power  of  our 
extended  territory.  Being  still  of  the  opinion  that  it  is 
our  best  policy,  as  far  as  we  can  consistently  with  the  ob- 
ligations under  which  those  lands  w^ere  ceded  to  the  United 
States,  to  promote  their  speedy  settlement,  I  beg  leave  to 
call  the  attention  of  the  present  Congress  to  the  suggestions 
I  have  offered  respecting  it  in  my  former  messages. 

The  extraordinary  receipts  from  the  sales  of  the  public 
lands  invite  you  to  consider  what  improvements  the  land 
system,  and  particularly  the  condition  of  the  General  Land 
Office,  may  require.  At  the  time  this  institution  was  or- 
ganized, near  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  it  would  prob- 
ably have  been  thought  extravagant  to  anticipate  for  this 
period  such  an  addition  to  its  business  as  has  been  produced 
by  the  vast  increase  of  those  sales  during  the  past  and  pres- 
ent years.  It  may  also  be  observed  that  since  the  year  1812 
the  land  offices  and  surveying  districts  have  been  greatly 
multiplied,  and  that  numerous  legislative  enactments  from 
year  to  year  since  that  time  have  imposed  a  great  amount 
of  new  and  additional  duties  upon  that  office,  while  the  want 
of  a  timely  application  of  force  commensurate  with  the, 
care  and  labor  required  has  caused  the  increasing  embar- 
rassment of  accumulated  arrears  in  the  different  branches  of 
the  establishment. 

These  impediments  to  the  expedition  of  much  duty  in 
the  General  Land  Office  induce  me  to  submit  to  your  judg- 


Seventh  Annual  Message  421 

ment  whether  some  modification  of  the  laws  relating  to  its 
organization,  or  an  organization  of  a  new  character,  be  not 
called  for  at  the  present  juncture,  to  enable  the  office  to 
accomplish  all  the  ends  of  its  institution  with  a  greater  de- 
gree of  facility  and  promptitude  than  experience  has  proved 
to  be  practicable  under  existing  regulations.  The  variety 
of  the  concerns  and  the  magnitude  and  complexity  of  the 
details  occupying  and  dividing  the  attention  of  the  Commis- 
sioner appear  to  render  it  difficult,  if  not  impracticable,  for 
that  officer  by  any  possible  assiduity  to  bestow  on  all  the 
multifarious  subjects  upon  which  he  is  called  to  act  the 
ready  and  careful  attention  due  to  their  respective  impor- 
tance, unless  the  Legislature  shall  assist  him  by  a  law  pro- 
viding, or  enabling  him  to  provide,  for  a  more  regular  and 
economical  distribution  of  labor,  with  the  incident  responsi- 
bility among  those  employed  under  his  direction.  The  mere 
manual  operation  of  affixing  his  signature  to  the  vast  num- 
ber of  documents  issuing  from  his  office  subtracts  so  largely 
from  the  time  and  attention  claimed  by  the  weighty  and 
complicated  subjects  daily  accumulating  in  that  branch  of 
the  public  service  as  to  indicate  the  strong  necessity  of  re- 
vising the  organic  law  of  the  establishment.  It  will  be 
easy  for  Congress  hereafter  to  proportion  the  expenditure 
on  account  of  this  branch  of  the  service  to  its  real  wants  by 
abolishing  from  time  to  time  the  offices  which  can  be  dis- 
pensed with. 

The  extinction  of  the  public  debt  having  taken  place, 
there  is  no  longer  any  use  for  the  offices  of  Commissioners 
of  Loans  and  of  the  Sinking  Fund.  I  recommend,  there- 
fore, that  they  be  abolished,  and  that  proper  measures  be 
taken  for  the  transfer  to  the  Treasury  Department  of  any 
funds,  books,  and  papers  connected  with  the  operations  of 
those  offices,  and  that  the  proper  power  be  given  to  that 
Department  for  closing  finally  any  portion  of  their  busi- 
ness which  may  remain  to  be  settled. 

It  is  also  incumbent  on  Congress  in  guarding  the  pecuni- 
ary interests  of  the  country  to  discontinue  by  such  a  law  as 
was  passed  in  1812  the  receipt  of  the  bills  of  the  Bank  of 


422  Andrew  Jackson 

the  United  States  in  payment  of  the  pubHc  revenue,  and  to 
provide  for  the  designation  of  an  agent  whose  duty  it  shall 
be  to  take  charge  of  the  books  and  stock  of  the  United 
States  in  that  institution,  and  to  close  all  connection  with 
it  after  the  3d  of  March,  1836,  when  its  charter  expires.  In 
making  provision  in  regard  to  the  disposition  of  this  stock 
it  will  be  essential  to  define  clearly  and  strictly  the  duties 
and  powers  of  the  ofiicer  charged  with  that  branch  of  the 
public  service. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  correspondence  which  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury  will  lay  before  you  that  notwith- 
standing the  large  amount  of  the  stock  which  the  United 
States  hold  in  that  institution  no  information  has  yet  been 
communicated  which  will  enable  the  Government  to  antici- 
pate when  it  can  receive  any  dividends  or  derive  any  bene- 
fit from  it. 

Connected  with  the  condition  of  the  finances  and  the 
flourishing  state  of  the  country  in  all  its  branches  of  indus- 
try, it  is  pleasing  to  witness  the  advantages  which  have  been 
already  derived  from  the  recent  laws  regulating  the  value 
of  the  gold  coinage.  These  advantages  will  be  more  ap- 
parent in  the  course  of  the  next  year,  when  the  branch  mints 
authorized  to  be  established  in  North  Carolina,  Georgia, 
and  Louisiana  shall  have  gone  into  operation.  Aided,  as  it 
is  hoped  they  will  be,  by  further  reforms  in  the  banking 
systems  of  the  States  and  by  judicious  regulations  on  the 
part  of  Congress  in  relation  to  the  custody  of  the  public 
moneys,  it  may  be  confidently  anticipated  that  the  use  of 
gold  and  silver  as  a  circulating  medium  will  become  general 
in  the  ordinary  transactions  connected  with  the  labor  of  the 
country.  The  great  desideratum  in  modern  times  is  an  ef- 
ficient check  upon  the  power  of  banks,  preventing  that  ex- 
cessive issue  of  paper  whence  arise  those  fluctuations  in  the 
standard  of  value  which  render  uncertain  the  rewards  of 
labor.  It  was  supposed  by  those  who  established  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  that  from  the  credit  given  to  it  by 
the  custody  of  the  public  moneys  and  other  privileges  and 
the  precautions  taken  to  guard  against  the  evils  which  the 


Seventh  Annual  Message         423 

country  had  suffered  in  the  bankruptcy  of  many  of  the 
State  institutions  of  that  period  we  should  derive  from  that 
institution  all  the  security  and  benefits  of  a  sound  currency 
and  every  good  end  that  was  attainable  under  that  provi- 
sion of  the  Constitution  which  authorizes  Congress  alone 
to  coin  money  and  regulate  the  value  thereof.  But  it  is 
scarcely  necessary  now  to  say  that  these  anticipations  have 
not  been  realized. 

After  the  extensive  embarrassment  and  distress  recently 
produced  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  from  which  the 
country  is  now  recovering,  aggravated  as  they  were  by 
pretensions  to  power  which  defied  the  public  authority,  and 
which  if  acquiesced  in  by  the  people  would  have  changed 
the  whole  character  of  our  Government,  every  candid  and 
intelligent  individual  must  admit  that  for  the  attainment 
of  the  great  advantages  of  a  sound  currency  we  must  look 
to  a  course  of  legislation  radically  different  from  that  which 
created  such  an  institution. 

In  considering  the  means  of  obtaining  so  important  an 
end  we  must  set  aside  all  calculations  of  temporary  con- 
venience, and  be  influenced  by  those  only  which  are  in 
harmony  with  the  true  character  and  the  permanent  inter- 
ests of  the  Republic.  We  must  recur  to  first  principles  and 
see  what  it  is  that  has  prevented  the  legislation  of  Con- 
gress and  the  States  on  the  subject  of  currency  from  satis- 
fying the  public  expectation  and  realizing  results  corre- 
sponding to  those  which  have  attended  the  action  of  our 
system  when  truly  consistent  with  the  great  principle  of 
equality  upon  which  it  rests,  and  with  that  spirit  of  for- 
bearance and  mutual  concession  and  generous  patriotism 
which  was  originally,  and  must  ever  continue  to  be,  the 
vital  element  of  our  Union. 

On  this  subject  I  am  sure  that  I  can  not  be  mistaken  in 
ascribing  our  want  of  success  to  the  undue  countenance 
which  has  been  afforded  to  the  spirit  of  monopoly.  All 
the  serious  dangers  which  our  system  has  yet  encountered 
may  be  traced  to  the  resort  to  implied  powers  and  the  use 
of  corporations  clothed  with  privileges,  the  effect  of  which 


424  Andrew  Jackson 

is  to  advance  the  interests  of  the  few  at  the  expense  of 
the  many.  We  have  felt  but  one  class  of  these  dangers 
exhibited  in  the  contest  waged  by  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  against  the  Government  for  the  last  four  years. 
Happily  they  have  been  obviated  for  the  present  by  the 
indignant  resistance  of  the  people,  but  we  should  recol- 
lect that  the  principle  whence  they  sprung  is  an  ever-active 
one,  which  will  not  fail  to  renew  its  efforts  in  the  same 
and  in  other  forms  so  long  as  there  is  a  hope  of  success, 
founded  either  on  the  inattention  of  the  people  or  the 
treachery  of  their  representatives  to  the  subtle  progress  of 
its  influence.  The  bank  is,  in  fact,  but  one  of  the  fruits 
of  a  system  at  war  with  the  genius  of  all  our  institutions — 
a  system  founded  upon  a  political  creed  the  fundamental 
principle  of  which  is  a  distrust  of  the  popular  will  as  a 
safe  regulator  of  political  power,  and  whose  great  ultimate 
object  and  inevitable  result,  should  it  prevail,  is  the  con- 
solidation of  all  power  in  our  system  in  one  central  gov- 
ernment. Lavish  public  disbursements  and  corporations 
with  exclusive  privileges  would  be  its  substitutes  for  the 
original  and  as  yet  sound  checks  and  balances  of  the  Con- 
stitution— the  means  by  whose  silent  and  secret  operation 
a  control  would  be  exercised  by  the  few  over  the  political 
conduct  of  the  many  by  first  acquiring  that  control  over 
the  labor  and  earnings  of  the  great  body  of  the  people. 
Wherever  this  spirit  has  effected  an  alliance  with  political 
power,  tyranny  and  despotism  have  been  the  fruit.  If  it  is 
ever  used  for  the  ends  of  government,  it  has  to  be  inces- 
santly watched,  or  it  corrupts  the  sources  of  the  public 
virtue  and  agitates  the  country  with  questions  unfavorable 
to  the  harmonious  and  steady  pursuit  of  its  true  interests. 

We  are  now  to  see  whether,  in  the  present  favorable  con- 
dition of  the  country,  we  can  not  take  an  effectual  stand 
against  this  spirit  of  monopoly,  and  practically  prove  in 
respect  to  the  currency  as  well  as  other  important  interests 
that  there  is  no  necessity  for  so  extensive  a  resort  to  it 
as  that  which  has  been  heretofore  practiced.  The  experi- 
ence of  another  year  has  confirmed  the  utter  fallacy  of  the 


Seventh  Annual  Message  4^5 

idea  that  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  was  necessary  as 
a  fiscal  agent  of  the  Government.  Without  its  aid  as  such, 
indeed,  in  despite  of  all  the  embarrassment  it  was  in  its 
power  to  create,  the  revenue  has  been  paid  with  punctuality 
by  our  citizens,  the  business  of  exchange,  both  foreign  and 
domestic,  has  been  conducted  with  convenience,  and  the 
circulating  medium  has  been  greatly  improved.  By  the  use 
of  the  State  banks,  which  do  not  derive  their  charters  from 
the  General  Government  and  are  not  controlled  by  its  au- 
thority, it  is  ascertained  that  the  moneys  of  the  United 
States  can  be  collected  and  disbursed  without  loss  or  incon- 
venience, and  that  all  the  wants  of  the  community  in  rela- 
tion to  exchange  and  currency  are  supplied  as  well  as 
they  have  ever  been  before.  If  under  circumstances  the 
most  unfavorable  to  the  steadiness  of  the  money  market  it 
has  been  found  that  the  considerations  on  which  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  rested  its  claims  to  the  public  favor 
were  imaginary  and  groundless,  it  can  not  be  doubted 
that  the  experience  of  the  future  will  be  more  decisive 
against  them. 

It  has  been  seen  that  without  the  agency  of  a  great 
moneyed  monopoly  the  revenue  can  be  collected  and  con- 
veniently and  safely  applied  to  all  the  purposes  of  the  pub- 
lic expenditure.  It  is  also  ascertained  that  instead  of  being 
necessarily  made  to  promote  the  evils  of  an  unchecked  paper 
system,  the  management  of  the  revenue  can  be  made  aux- 
iliary to  the  reform  which  the  legislatures  of  several  of  the 
States  have  already  commenced  in  regard  to  the  suppres- 
sion of  small  bills,  and  which  has  only  to  be  fostered  by 
proper  regulations  on  the  part  of  Congress  to  secure  a  prac- 
tical return  to  the  extent  required  for  the  security  of  the 
currency  to  the  constitutional  medium.  Severed  from  the 
Government  as  political  engines,  and  not  susceptible  of  dan- 
gerous extension  and  combination,  the  State  banks  will  not 
be  tempted,  nor  will  they  have  the  power,  which  we  have 
seen  exercised,  to  divert  the  public  funds  from  the  legiti- 
mate purposes  of  the  Government.  The  collection  and  cus- 
tody of  the  revenue,  being,  on  the  contrary,  a  source  of 


4^6  Andrew  Jackson 

credit  to  them,  will  increase  the  security  which  the  States 
provide  for  a  faithful  execution  of  their  trusts  by  multiply- 
ing the  scrutinies  to  which  their  operations  and  accounts 
will  be  subjected.  Thus  disposed,  as  well  from  interest 
as  the  obligations  of  their  charters,  it  can  not  be  doubted 
that  such  conditions  as  Congress  may  see  fit  to  adopt  re- 
specting the  deposits  in  these  institutions,  with  a  view  to 
the  gradual  disuse,  of  the  small  bills  will  be  cheerfully  com- 
plied with,  and  that  we  shall  soon  gain  in  place  of  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  a  practical  reform  in  the  whole  paper 
system  of  the  country.  If  by  this  policy  we  can  ultimately 
witness  the  suppression  of  all  bank  bills  below  $20,  it  is 
apparent  that  gold  and  silver  will  take  their  place  and  be- 
come the  principal  circulating  medium  in  the  common  busi- 
ness of  the  farmers  and  mechanics  of  the  country.  The 
attainment  of  such  a  result  will  form  an  era  in  the  history 
of  our  country  which  will  be  dwelt  upon  with  delight  by 
every  true  friend  of  its  liberty  and  independence.  It  will 
lighten  the  great  tax  which  our  paper  system  has  so  long 
collected  from  the  earnings  of  labor,  and  do  more  to  revive 
and  perpetuate  those  habits  of  economy  and  simplicity 
which  are  so  congenial  to  the  character  of  republicans  than 
all  the  legislation  which  has  yet  been  attempted. 

To  this  subject  I  feel  that  I  can  not  too  earnestly  invite 
the  special  attention  of  Congress,  without  the  exercise  of 
whose  authority  the  opportunity  to  accomplish  so  much 
public  good  must  pass  unimproved.  Deeply  impressed  with 
its  vital  importance,  the  Executive  has  taken  all  the  steps 
within  his  constitutional  power  to  guard  the  public  revenue 
and  defeat  the  expectation  which  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  indulged  of  renewing  and  perpetuating  its  monopoly 
on  the  ground  of  its  necessity  as  a  fiscal  agent  and  as  afford- 
ing a  sounder  currency  than  could  be  obtained  without  such 
an  institution.  In  the  performance  of  this  duty  much 
responsibility  was  incurred  which  would  have  been  gladly 
avoided  if  the  stake  which  the  public  had  in  the  question 
could  have  been  otherwise  preserved.  Although  clothed 
with  the  legal  authority  and  supported  by  precedent,  I  was 


Seventh  Annual  Message  427 

aware  that  there  was  in  the  act  of  the  removal  of  the  de- 
posits a  Habihty  to  excite  that  sensitiveness  to  Executive 
power  which  it  is  the  characteristic  and  the  duty  of  freemen 
to  indulge;  but  I  relied  on  this  feeling  also,  directed  by 
patriotism  and  intelligence,  to  vindicate  the  conduct  which 
in  the  end  would  appear  to  have  been  called  for.  by  the 
best  interests  of  my  country.  .  The  apprehensions  natural 
to  this  feeding  that  there  may  have  been  a  desire,  through 
the  instrumentality  of  that  measure,  to  extend  the  Execu- 
tive influence,  or  that  it  may  have  been  prompted  by  motives 
not  sufficiently  free  from  ambition,  were  not  overlooked. 
Under  the  operation  of  our  institutions  the  public  servant 
who  is  called  on  to  take  a  step  of  high  responsibility  should 
feel  in  the  freedom  which  gives  rise  to  such  apprehensions 
his  highest  security.  When  unfounded  the  attention  which 
they  arouse  and  the  discussions  they  excite  deprive  those 
who  indulge  them  of  the  power  to  do  harm;  when  just 
they  but  hasten  the  certainty  with  which  the  great  body  of 
our  citizens  never  fail  to  repel  an  attempt  to  procure  their 
sanction  to  any  exercise  of  power  inconsistent  with  the 
jealous  maintenance  of  their  rights.  Under  such  convic- 
tions, and  entertaining  no  doubt  that  my  constitutional  obli- 
gations demanded  the  steps  which  were  taken  in  reference 
to  the  removal  of  the  deposits,  it  was  impossible  for  me  to 
be  deterred  from  the  path  of  duty  by  a  fear  that  my  motives 
could  be  misjudged  or  that  political  prejudices  could  defeat 
the  just  consideration  of  the  merits  of  my  conduct.  The 
result  has  shewn  how  safe  is  this  reliance  upon  the  pa- 
triotic temper  and  enlightened  discernment  of  the  people. 
That  measure  has  now  been  before  them  and  has  stood  the 
test  of  all  the  severe  analysis  which  its  general  importance, 
the  interests  it  affected,  and  the  apprehensions  it  excited 
were  calculated  to  produce,  and  it  now  remains  for  Con- 
gress to  consider  what  legislation  has  become  necessary  in 
consequence. 

I  need  only  add  to  what  I  have  on  former  occasions  said 
on  this  subject  generally  that  in  the  regulations  which  Con- 
gress may  prescribe  respecting  the  custody  of  the  public 


428  Andrew  Jackson 

moneys  it  is  desirable  that  as  little  discretion  as  may  be 
deemed  consistent  with  their  safe-keeping  should  be  given 
to  the  executive  agents.  No  one  can  be  more  deeply  im- 
pressed than  I  am  with  the  soundness  of  the  doctrine  which 
restrains  and  limits,  by  specific  provisions,  executive  dis- 
cretion, as  far  as  it  can  be  done  consistently  with  the  pres- 
ervation of  its  constitutional  character.  In  respect  to  the 
control  over  the  public  money  this  doctrine  is  peculiarly 
applicable,  and  is  in  harmony  with  the  great  principle  which 
I  felt  I  was  sustaining  in  the  controversy  with  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  which  has  resulted  in  severing  to  some 
extent  a  dangerous  connection  between  a  moneyed  and  po- 
litical power.  The  duty  of  the  Legislature  to  define,  by 
clear  and  positive  enactments,  the  nature  and  extent  of  the 
action  which  it  belongs  to  the  Executive  to  superintend 
springs  out  of  a  policy  analogous  to  that  which  enjoins 
upon  all  the  branches  of  the  Federal  Government  an  absti- 
nence from  the  exercise  of  powers  not  clearly  granted. 

In  such  a  Government,  possessing  only  limited  and  spe- 
cific powers,  the  spirit  of  its  general  administration  can  not 
be  wise  or  just  when  it  opposes  the  reference  of  all  doubt- 
ful points  to  the  great  source  of  authority,  the  States  and 
the  people,  whose  number  and  diversified  relations,  secur- 
ing them  against  the  influences  and  excitements  which  may 
mislead  their  agents,  make  them  the  safest  depository  of 
power.  In  its  application  to  the  Executive,  with  reference 
to  the  legislative  branch  of  the  Government,  the  same  rule  of 
action  should  make  the  President  ever  anxious  to  avoid  the 
exercise  of  any  discretionary  authority  which  can  be  regu- 
lated by  Congress.  The  biases  which  may  operate  upon 
him  will  not  be  so  likely  to  extend  to  the  representatives 
of  the  people  in  that  body. 

In  my  former  messages  to  Congress  I  have  repeatedly 
urged  the  propriety  of  lessening  the  discretionary  authority 
lodged  in  the  various  Departments,  but  it  has  produced  no 
effect  as  yet,  except  the  discontinuance  of  extra  allowances 
in  the  Army  and  Navy  and  the  substitution  of  fixed  salaries 
in  the  latter.     It  is  believed  that  the  same  principles  could 


Seventh  Annual  Message  429 

be  advantageously  applied  in  all  cases,  and  would  promote 
the  efficiency  and  economy  of  the  public  service,  at  the  same 
time  that  greater  satisfaction  and  more  equal  justice  would 
be  secured  to  the  public  officers  generally. 

The  accompanying  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  will 
put  you  in  possession  of  the  operations  of  the  Department 
confided  to  his  care  in  all  its  diversified  relations  during  the 
past  year. 

I  am  gratified  in  being  able  to  inform  you  that  no  occur- 
rence has  required  any  movement  of  the  military  force, 
except  such  as  is  common  to  a  state  of  peace.  The  services 
of  the  Army  have  been  limited  to  their  usual  duties  at  the 
various  garrisons  upon  the  Atlantic  and  inland  frontier, 
with  the  exceptions  stated  by  the  Secretary  of  War.  Our 
small  military  establishment  appears  to  be  adequate  to  the 
purposes  for  which  it  is  maintained,  and  it  forms  a  nucleus 
around  which  any  additional  force  may  be  collected  should 
the  public  exigencies  unfortunately  require  any  increase  of 
our  military  means. 

The  various  acts  of  Congress  which  have  been  recently 
passed  in  relation  to  the  Army  have  improved  its  condition, 
and  have  rendered  its  organization  more  useful  and  effi- 
cient. It  is  at  all  times  in  a  state  for  prompt  and  vigorous 
action,  and  it  contains  within  itself  the  power  of  extension 
to  any  useful  limit,  while  at  the  same  time  it  preserves  that 
knowledge,  both  theoretical  and  practical,  which  education 
and  experience  alone  can  give,  and  which,  if  not  acquired 
and  preserved  in  time  of  peace,  must  be  sought  under  great 
disadvantages  in  time  of  war. 

The  duties  of  the  Engineer  Corps  press  heavily  upon  that 
branch  of  the  service,  and  the  public  interest  requires  an 
addition  to  its  strength.  The  nature  of  the  works  in  which 
the  officers  are  engaged  renders  necessary  professional 
knowledge  and  experience,  and  there  is  no  economy  in  com- 
mitting to  them  more  duties  than  they  can  perform  or  in 
assigning  these  to  other  persons  temporarily  employed,  and 
too  often  of  necessity  without  all  the  qualifications  which 
such  service  demands.     I  recommend  this  subject  to  your 


43°  Andrew  Jackson 

attention,  and  also  the  proposition  submitted  at  the  last  ses- 
sion of  Congress  and  now  renewed,  for  a  reorganization  of 
the  Topographical  Corps.  This  reorganization  can  be  ef- 
fected without  any  addition  to  the  present  expenditure  and 
with  much  advantage  to  the  public  service.  The  branch  of 
duties  which  devolves  upon. these  officers  is  at  all  times  in- 
teresting to  the  community,  and  the  information  furnished 
by  them  is  useful  in  peace  and  war. 

Much  loss  and  inconvenience  have  been  experienced  in 
consequence  of  the  failure  of  the  bill  containing  the  ordinary 
appropriations  for  fortifications  which  passed  one  branch  of 
the  National  Legislature  at  the  last  session,  but  was  lost  in 
the  other.  This  failure  was  the  more  regretted  not  only  be- 
cause it  necessarily  interrupted  and  delayed  the  progress  of 
a  system  of  national  defense,  projected  immediately  after 
the  last  war  and  since  steadily  pursued,  but  also  because  it 
contained  a  contingent  appropriation,  inserted  in  accordance 
with  the  views  of  the  Executive,  in  aid  of  this  important 
object  and  other  branches  of  the  national  defense,  some  por- 
tions of  which  might  have  been  most  usefully  applied  during 
the  past  season.  I  invite  your  early  attention  to  that  part 
of  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  which  relates  to  this 
subject,  and  recommend  an  appropriation  sufficiently  liberal 
to  accelerate  the  armament  of  the  fortifications  agreeably  to 
the  proposition  submitted  by  him,  and  to  place  our  whole 
Atlantic  seaboard  in  a  complete  state  of  defense.  A  just 
regard  to  the  permanent  interests  of  the  country  evidently 
requires  this  measure,  but  there  are  also  other  reasons  which 
at  the  present  juncture  give  it  peculiar  force  and  make  it  my 
duty  to  call  to  the  subject  your  special  consideration. 

The  present  system  of  military  education  has  been  in  oper- 
ation sufficiently  long  to  test  its  usefulness,  and  it  has  given 
to  the  Army  a  valuable  body  of  officers.  It  is  not  alone  in 
the  improvement,  discipline,  and  operation  of  the  troops  that 
these  officers  are  employed.  They  are  also  extensively  en- 
gaged in  the  administrative  and  fiscal  concerns  of  the  various 
matters  confided  to  the  War  Department ;  in  the  execution 
of  the  staff  duties  usually  appertaining  to  military  organiza- 


Seventh   Annual  Message  43  ^ 

tion;  in  the  removal  of  the  Indians  and  in  the  disbursement 
of  the  various  expenditures  growing  out  of  our  Indian  rela- 
tions ;  in  the  formation  of  roads  and  in  the  improvement  of 
harbors  and  rivers;  in  the  construction  of  fortifications,  in 
the  fabrication  of  much  of  the  materiel  required  for  the  pub- 
lic defense,  and  in  the  preservation,  distribution,  and  ac- 
countability of  the  whole,  and  in  other  miscellaneous  duties 
not  admitting  of  classification. 

These  diversified  functions  embrace  very  heavy  expendi- 
tures of  public  money,  and  require  fidelity,  science,  and  busi- 
ness habits  in  their  execution,  and  a  system  which  shall 
secure  these  qualifications  is  demanded  by  the  public  inter- 
est. That  this  object  has  been  in  a  great  measure  obtained 
by  the  Military  Academy  is  shewn  by  the  state  of  the  service 
and  by  tljie  prompt  accountability  which  has  generally  fol- 
lowed the  necessary  advances.  Like  all  other  political  sys- 
tems, the  present  mode  of  military  education  no  doubt  has 
its  imperfections,  both  of  principle  and  practice ;  but  I  trust 
these  can  be  improved  by  rigid  inspections  and  by  legislative 
scrutiny  without  destroying  the  institution  itself. 

Occurrences  to  which  we  as  well  as  all  other  nations  are 
liable,  both  in  our  internal  and  external  relations,  point  to 
the  necessity  of  an  efficient  organization  of  the  militia.  I 
am  again  induced  by  the  importance  of  the  subject  to  bring 
it  to  your  attention.  To  suppress  domestic  violence  and  to 
repel  foreign  invasion,  should  these  calamities  overtake  us, 
we  must  rely  in  the  first  instance  upon  the  great  body  of  the 
community  whose  will  has  instituted  and  whose  power  must 
support  the  Government.  A  large  standing  military  force 
is  not  consonant  to  the  spirit  of  our  institutions  nor  to  the 
feelings  of  our  countrymen,  and  the  lessons  of  former  days 
and  those  also  of  our  own  times  shew  the  danger  as  well  as 
the  enormous  expense  of  these  permanent  and  extensive  mil- 
itary organizations.  That  just  medium  which  avoids  an  in- 
adequate preparation  on  one  hand  and  the  danger  and  ex- 
pense of  a  large  force  on  the  other  is  what  our  constituents 
have  a  right  to  expect  from  their  Government.  This  object 
can  be  attained  only  by  the  maintenance  of  a  small  military 


43 2  Andrew   Jackson 

force  and  by  such  an  organization  of  the  physical  strength 
of  the  country  as  may  bring  this  power  into  operation  when- 
ever its  services  are  required.  A  classification  of  the  popu- 
lation offers  the  most  obvious  means  of  effecting  this  or- 
ganization. Such  a  division  may  be  made  as  will  be  just  to 
all  by  transferring  each  at  a  proper  period  of  life  from  one 
class  to  another  and  by  calling  first  for  the  services  of  that 
class,  whether  for  instruction  or  action,  which  from  age  is 
qualified  for  the  duty  and  may  be  called  to  perform  it  with 
least  injury  to  themselves  or  to  the  public.  Should  the  dan- 
ger ever  become  so  imminent  as  to  require  additional  force, 
the  other  classes  in  succession  would  be  ready  for  the  call. 
And  if  in  addition  to  this  organization  voluntary  associa- 
tions were  encouraged  and  inducements  held  out  for  their 
formation,  our  militia  would  be  in  a  state  of  efficient  service. 
Now,  when  we  are  at  peace,  is  the  proper  time  to  digest  and 
establish  a  practicable  system.  The  object  is  certainly  worth 
the  experiment  and  w^orth  the  expense.  No  one  appreciating 
the  blessings  of  a  republican  government  can  object  to  his 
share  of  the  burden  which  such  a  plan  may  impose.  Indeed, 
a  moderate  portion  of  the  national  funds  could  scarcely  be 
better  applied  than  in  carrying  into  effect  and  continuing 
such  an  arrangement,  and  in  giving  the  necessary  elemen- 
tary instruction.  We  are  happily  at  peace  with  all  the  world. 
A  sincere  desire  to  continue  so  and  a  fixed  determination  to 
give  no  just  cause  of  offense  to  other  nations  furnish,  un- 
fortunately, no  certain  grounds  of  expectation  that  this  re- 
lation will  be  uninterrupted.  With  this  determination  to 
give  no  offense  is  associated  a  resolution,  equally  decided, 
tamely  to  submit  to  none.  The  armor  and  the  attitude  of 
defense  afford  the  best  security  against  those  collisions 
which  the  ambition,  or  interest,  or  some  other  passion  of 
nations  not  more  justifiable  is  liable  to  produce.  In  many 
countries  it  is  considered  unsafe  to  put  arms  into  the  hands 
of  the  people  and  to  instruct  them  in  the  elements  of  military 
knowledge.  That  fear  can  have  no  place  here  w^hen  it  is 
recollected  that  the  people  are  the  sovereign  power.  Our 
Government  was  instituted  and  is  supported  by  the  ballot 


Seventh  Annual  Message  433 

box,  not  by  the  musket.  Whatever  changes  await  it,  still 
greater  changes  must  be  made  in  our  social  institutions  be- 
fore our  poHtical  system  can  yield  to  physical  force.  In 
every  aspect,  therefore,  in  which  I  can  view  the  subject  I  am 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  a  prompt  and  efficient 
organization  of  the  militia. 

The  plan  of  removing  the  aboriginal  people  who  yet  re- 
main within  the  settled  portions  of  the  United  States  to  the 
country  west  of  the  Mississippi  River  approaches  its  con- 
summation. It  was  adopted  on  the  most  mature  considera- 
tion of  the  condition  of  this  race,  and  ought  to  be  persisted 
in  till  the  object  is  accomplished,  and  prosecuted  with  as 
much  vigor  as  a  just  regard  to  their  circumstances  will  per- 
mit, and  as  fast  as  their  consent  can  be  obtained.  All  pre- 
ceding experiments  for  the  improvement  of  the  Indians  have 
failed.  It  seems  now  to  be  an  established  fact  that  they  can 
not  live  in  contact  with  a  civilized  community  and  prosper. 
Ages  of  fruitless  endeavors  have  at  length  brought  us  to  a 
knowledge  of  this  principle  of  intercommunication  with 
them.  The  past  we  can  not  recall,  but  the  future  we  can 
provide  for.  Independently  of  the  treaty  stipulations  into 
which  we  have  entered  with  the  various  tribes  for  the  usu- 
fructuary rights  they  have  ceded  to  us,  no  one  can  doubt  the 
moral  duty  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  to  pro- 
tect and  if  possible  to  preserve  and  perpetuate  the  scattered 
remnants  of  this  race  which  are  left  within  our  borders.  In 
the  discharge  of  this  duty  an  extensive  region  in  the  West 
has  been  assigned  for  their  permanent  residence.  It  has  been 
divided  into  districts  and  allotted  among  them.  Many  have 
already  removed  and  others  are  preparing  to  go,  and  with 
the  exception  of  two  small  bands  living  in  Ohio  and  Indiana, 
not  exceeding  1,500  persons,  and  of  the  Cherokees,  all  the 
tribes  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi,  and  extending  from 
Lake  Michigan  to  Florida,  have  entered  into  engagements 
which  will  lead  to  their  transplantation. 

The  plan  for  their  removal  and  reestablishment  is  founded 
upon  the  knowledge  we  have  gained  of  their  character  and 
habits,  and  has  been  dictated  by  a  spirit  of  enlarged  liber- 


434  Andrew  Jackson 

ality.  A  territory  exceeding  in  extent  that  relinquished  has 
been  granted  to  each  tribe.  Of  its  climate,  fertility,  and 
capacity  to  support  an  Indian  population  the  representations 
are  highly  favorable.  To  these  districts  the  Indians  are  re- 
moved at  the  expense  of  the  United  States,  and  with  certain 
supplies  of  clothing,  arms,  ammunition,  and  other  indis- 
pensable articles;  they  are  also  furnished  gratuitously  with 
provisions  for  the  period  of  a  year  after  their  arrival  at  their 
new  homes.  In  that  time,  from  the  nature  of  the  country 
and  of  the  products  raised  by  them,  they  can  subsist  them- 
selves by  agricultural  labor,  if  they  choose  to  resort  to  that 
mode  of  life;  if  they  do  not  they  are  upon  the  skirts  of  the 
great  prairies,  where  countless  herds  of  buffalo  roam,  and 
a  short  time  suffices  to  adapt  their  own  habits  to  the  changes 
which  a  change  of  the  animals  destined  for  their  food  may 
require.  Ample  arrangements  have  also  been  made  for  the 
support  of  schools;  in  some  instances  council  houses  and 
churches  are  to  be  erected,  dwellings  constructed  for  the 
chiefs,  and  mills  for  common  use.  Funds  have  been  set 
apart  for  the  maintenance  of  the  poor;  the  most  necessary 
mechanical  arts  have  been  introduced,  and  blacksmiths, 
gunsmiths,  wheelwrights,  millwrights,  etc.,  are  supported 
among  them.  Steel  and  iron,  and  sometimes  salt,  are  pur- 
chased for  them,  and  plows  and  other  farming  utensils,  do- 
mestic animals,  looms,  spinning  wheels,  cards,  etc.,  are 
presented  to  them.  And  besides  these  beneficial  arrange- 
ments, annuities  are  in  all  cases  paid,  amounting  in  some 
instances  to  more  than  $30  for  each  individual  of  the  tribe, 
and  in  all  cases  sufficiently  great,  if  justly  divided  and 
prudently  expended,  to  enable  them,  in  addition  to  their 
own  exertions,  to  live  comfortably.  And  as  a  stimulus  for 
exertion,  it  is  now  provided  by  law  that  "  in  all  cases  of  the 
appointment  of  interpreters  or  other  persons  employed  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Indians  a  preference  shall  be  given  to 
persons  of  Indian  descent,  if  such  can  be  found  who  are 
properly  qualified  for  the  discharge  of  the  duties." 

Such  are  the  arrangements  for  the  physical  comfort  and 
for  the  moral  improvement  of  the  Indians.     The  necessary 


Seventh   Annual  Message  435 

measures  for  their  political  advancement  and  for  their  sepa- 
ration from  our  citizens  have  not  been  neglected.  The 
pledge  of  the  United  States  has  been  given  by  Congress 
that  the  country  destined  for  the  residence  of  this  people 
shall  be  forever  "  secured  and  guaranteed  to  them."  A 
country  w^est  of  Missouri  and  Arkansas  has  been  assigned 
to  them,  into  which  the  white  settlements  are  not  to  be 
pushed.  No  political  communities  can  be  formed  in  that 
extensive  region,  except  those  which  are  established  by 
the  Indians  themselves  or  by  the  United  States  for  them 
and  with  their  concurrence.  A  barrier  has  thus  been  raised 
for  their  protection  against  the  encroachment  of  our  citi- 
zens, and  guarding  the  Indians  as  far  as  possible  from  those 
evils  which  have  brought  them  to  their  present  condition. 
Summary  authority  has  been  given  by  law  to  destroy  all 
ardent  spirits  found  in  their  country,  without  waiting  the 
doubtful  result  and  slow  process  of  a  legal  seizure.  I  con- 
sider the  absolute  and  unconditional  interdiction  of  this 
article  among  these  people  as  the  first  and  great  step  in  their 
melioration.  Halfway  measures  will  answer  no  purpose. 
These  can  not  successfully  contend  against  the  cupidity  of 
the  seller  and  the  overpowering  appetite  of  the  buyer.  And 
the  destructive  effects  of  the  traffic  are  marked  in  every 
page  of  the  history  of  our  Indian  intercourse. 

Some  general  legislation  seems  necessary  for  the  regula- 
tion of  the  relations  which  will  exist  in  this  new  state  of 
things  between  the  Government  and  people  of  the  United 
States  and  these  transplanted  Indian  tribes,  and  for  the 
establishment  among  the  latter,  and  with  their  own  consent, 
of  some  principles  of  intercommunication  which  their  juxta- 
position will  call  for;  that  moral  may  be  substituted  for 
physical  force,  the  authority  of  a  few  and  simple  laws  for 
the  tomahawk,  and  that  an  end  may  be  put  to  those  bloody 
wars  whose  prosecution  seems  to  have  made  part  of  their 
social  system. 

After  the  further  details  of  this  arrangement  are  com- 
pleted, with  a  very  general  supervision  over  them,  they 
ought  to  be  left  to  the  progress  of  events.    These,  I  indulge 


43^  Andrew  Jackson 

the  hope,  will  secure  their  prosperity  and  improvement,  and 
a  large  portion  of  the  moral  debt  we  owe  them  will  then 
be  paid. 

The  report  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Naxy,  shewing  the 
condition  of  that  branch  of  the  public  service,  is  recom- 
mended to  your  special  attention.  It  appears  from  it  that 
our  naval  force  at  present  in  commission,  with  all  the  ac- 
tivity which  can  be  given  to  it,  is  inadequate  to  the  protec- 
tion of  our  rapidly  increasing  commerce.  This  considera- 
tion and  the  more  general  one  which  regards  this  arm  of 
the  national  defense  as  our  best  security  against  foreign 
aggressions  strongly  urge  the  continuance  of  the  measures 
which  promote  its  gradual  enlargement  and  a  speedy  in- 
crease of  the  force  which  has  been  heretofore  employed 
abroad  and  at  home.  You  will  perceive  from  the  estimates 
which  appear  in  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
that  the  expenditures  necessary  to  this  increase  of  its  force, 
though  of  considerable  amount,  are  small  compared  with 
the  benefits  which  they  will  secure  to  the  country. 

As  a  means  of  strengthening  this  national  arm  I  also 
recommend  to  your  particular  attention  the  propriety  of  the 
suggestion  which  attracted  the  consideration  of  Congress 
at  its  last  session,  respecting  the  enlistment  of  boys  at  a 
suitable  age  in  the  service.  In  this  manner  a  nursery  of 
skillful  and  able-bodied  seamen  can  be  established,  which 
will  be  of  the  greatest  importance.  Next  to  the  capacity  to 
put  afloat  and  arm  the  requisite  number  of  ships  is  the  pos- 
session of  the  means  to  man  them  efficiently,  and  nothing 
seems  better  calculated  to  aid  this  object  than  the  measure 
proposed.  As  an  auxiliary  to  the  advantages  derived  from 
our  extensive  commercial  marine,  it  would  furnish  us  with 
a  resource  ample  enough  for  all  the  exigencies  which  can 
be  anticipated.  Considering  the  state  of  our  resources,  it 
can  not  be  doubted  that  whatever  provision  the  liberality 
and  wisdom  of  Congress  may  now  adopt  with  a  view  to  the 
perfect  organization  of  this  branch  of  our  service  will  meet 
the  approbation  of  all  classes  of  our  citizens. 

By  the  report  of  the  Postmaster-General  it  appears  that 


Seventh  Annual  Message  437 

the  revenue  of  the  Department  during  the  year  ending  on  the 
30th  day  of  June  last  exceeded  its  accruing  responsibihties 
$236,206,  and  that  the  surplus  of  the  present  fiscal  year  is 
estimated  at  $476,227.  It  further  appears  that  the  debt  of 
the  Department  on  the  ist  day  of  July  last,  including  the 
amount  due  to  contractors  for  the  quarter  then  just  expired, 
was  about  $1,064,381,  exceeding  the  available  means  about 
$23,700;  and  that  on  the  ist  instant  about  $597,077  of  this 
debt  had  been  paid — $409,991  out  of  postages  accruing 
before  July  and  $187,086  out  of  postages  accruing  since. 
In  these  payments  are  included  $67,000  of  the  old  debt  due 
to  banks.  After  making  these  payments  the  Department 
had  $73,000  in  bank  on  the  ist  instant.  The  pleasing  as- 
surance is  given  that  the  Department  is  entirely  free  from 
embarrassment,  and  that  by  collection  of  outstanding  bal- 
ances and  using  the  current  surplus  the  remaining  portion 
of  the  bank  debt  and  most  of  the  other  debt  v^ill  probably 
be  paid  in  April  next,  leaving  thereafter  a  heavy  amount  to 
be  applied  in  extending  the  mail  facilities  of  the  country. 
Reserving  a  considerable  sum  for  the  improvement  of  exist- 
ing mail  routes,  it  is  stated  that  the  Department  v^ill  be  able 
to  sustain  with  perfect  convenience  an  annual  charge  of 
$300,000  for  the  support  of  new  routes,  to  commence  as 
soon  as  they  can  be  established  and  put  in  operation. 

The  measures  adopted  by  the  Postmaster-General  to 
bring  the  means  of  the  Department  into  action  and  to  effect 
a  speedy  extinguishment  of  its  debt,  as  well  as  to  produce 
an  efficient  administration  of  its  affairs,  will  be  found  de- 
tailed at  length  in  his  able  and  luminous  report.  Aided 
by  a  reorganization  on  the  principles  suggested  and  such 
salutary  provisions  in  the  laws  regulating  its  administra- 
tive duties  as  the  wisdom  of  Congress  may  devise  or  ap- 
prove, that  important  Department  will  soon  attain  a  degree 
of  usefulness  proportioned  to  the  increase  of  our  population 
and  the  extension  of  our  settlements. 

Particular  attention  is  solicited  to  that  portion  of  the 
report  of  the  Postmaster-General  which  relates  to  the  car- 
riage of  the  mails  of  the  United  States  upon  railroads  con- 


43^  Andrew  Jackson 

structed  by  private  corporations  under  the  authority  of  the 
several  States.  The  rehance  which  the  General  Govern- 
ment can  place  on  those  roads  as  a  means  of  carrying  on 
its  operations  and  the  principles  on  which  the  use  of  them 
is  to  be  obtained  can  not  too  soon  be  considered  and  set- 
tled. Already  does  the  spirit  of  monopoly  begin  to  exhibit 
its  natural  propensities  in  attempts  to  exact  from  the  public, 
for  services  which  it  supposes  can  not  be  obtained  on  other 
terms,  the  most  extravagant  compensation.  If  these  claims 
be  persisted  in,  the  question  may  arise  whether  a  combina- 
tion of  citizens,  acting  under  charters  of  incorporation  from 
the  States,  can,  by  a  direct  refusal  or  the  demand  of  an 
exorbitant  price,  exclude  the  United  States  from  the  use  of 
the  established  channels  of  communication  between  the  dif- 
ferent sections  of  the  country,  and  whether  the  United 
States  can  not,  without  transcending  their  constitutional 
powers,  secure  to  the  Post-Office  Department  the  use  of 
those  roads  by  an  act  of  Congress  which  shall  provide 
within  itself  some  equitable  mode  of  adjusting  the  amount 
of  compensation.  To  obviate,  if  possible,  the  necessity  of 
considering  this  question,  it  is  suggested  whether  it  be  not 
expedient  to  fix  by  law  the  amounts  which  shall  be  offered 
to  railroad  companies  for  the  conveyance  of  the  mails, 
graduated  according  to  their  average  weight,  to  be  ascer- 
tained and  declared  by  the  Postmaster-General.  It  is  prob- 
able that  a  liberal  proposition  of  that  sort  would  be  accepted. 
In  connection  with  these  provisions  in  relation  to  the 
Post-Office  Department,  I  must  also  invite  your  attention 
to  the  painful  excitement  produced  in  the  South  by  attempts 
to  circulate  through  the  mails  inflammatory  appeals  ad- 
dressed to  the  passions  of  the  slaves,  in  prints  and  in  various 
sorts  of  publications,  calculated  to  stimulate  them  to  insur- 
rection and  to  produce  all  the  horrors  of  a  servile  war. 
There  is  doubtless  no  respectable  portion  of  our  country- 
men who  can  be  so  far  misled  as  to  feel  any  other  sentiment 
than  that  of  indignant  regret  at  conduct  so  destructive  of 
the  harmony  and  peace  of  the  country,  and  so  repugnant 
to  the  principles  of  our  national  compact  and  to  the  dictates 


Seventh  Annual  Message  439 

of  humanity  and  religion.  Our  happiness  and  prosperity 
essentially  depend  upon  peace  within  our  borders,  and  peace 
depends  upon  the  maintenance  in  good  faith  of  those  com- 
promises of  the  Constitution  upon  which  the  Union  is 
founded.  It  is  fortunate  for  the  country  that  the  good 
sense,  the  generous  feeling,  and  the  deep-rooted  attachment 
of  the  people  of  the  nonslaveholding  States  to  the  Union 
and  to  their  fellow-citizens  of  the  same  blood  in  the  South 
have  given  so  strong  and  impressive  a  tone  to  the  sentiments 
entertained  against  the  proceedings  of  the  misguided  per- 
sons who  have  engaged  in  these  unconstitutional  and  wicked 
attempts,  and  especially  against  the  emissaries  from  foreign 
parts  who  have  dared  to  interfere  in  this  matter,  as  to  au- 
thorize the  hope  that  those  attempts  will  no  longer  be  per- 
sisted in.  But  if  these  expressions  of  the  public  will  shall 
not  be  sufficient  to  effect  so  desirable  a  result,  not  a  doubt 
can  be  entertained  that  the  nonslaveholding  States,  so  far 
from  countenancing  the  slightest  interference  with  the  con- 
stitutional rights  of  the  South,  will  be  prompt  to  exercise 
their  authority  in  suppressing  so  far  as  in  them  lies  what- 
ever is  calculated  to  produce  this  evil. 

In  leaving  the  care  of  other  branches  of  this  interesting 
subject  to  the  State  authorities,  to  whom  they  properly 
belong,  it  is  nevertheless  proper  for  Congress  to  take  such 
measures  as  will  prevent  the  Post-Office  Department,  which 
was  designed  to  foster  an  amicable  intercourse  and  corre- 
spondence between  all  the  members  of  the  Confederacy, 
from  being  used  as  an  instrument  of  an  opposite  character. 
The  General  Government,  to  which  the  great  trust  is  con- 
fided of  preserving  inviolate  the  relations  created  among 
the  States  by  the  Constitution,  is  especially  bound  to  avoid 
in  its  own  action  anything  that  may  disturb  them.  I  would 
therefore  call  the  special  attention  of  Congress  to  the  sub- 
ject, and  respectfully  suggest  the  propriety  of  passing  such 
a  law  as  will  prohibit,  under  severe  penalties,  the  circulation 
in  the  Southern  States,  through  the  mail,  of  incendiary 
publications  intended  to  instigate  the  slaves  to  insurrection. 

I  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  in  the  first  message  which  I  com- 


44°  Andrew  Jackson 

municated  to  Congress  to  urge  upon  its  attention  the 
propriety  of  amending  that  part  of  the  Constitution  which 
provides  for  the  election  of  the  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  The  leading  object  which  I  had 
in  view  was  the  adoption  of  some  new  provisions  which 
would  secure  to  the  people  the  performance  of  this  high 
duty  without  any  intermediate  agency.  In  my  annual  com- 
munications since  I  have  enforced  the  same  views,  from  a 
sincere  conviction  that  the  best  interests  of  the  country 
would  be  promoted  by  their  adoption.  If  the  subject  were 
an  ordinary  one,  I  should  have  regarded  the  failure  of  Con- 
gress to  act  upon  it  as  an  indication  of  their  judgment  that 
the  disadvantages  which  belong  to  the  present  system  were 
not  so  great  as  those  wdiich  would  result  from  any  attainable 
substitute  that  had  been  submitted  to  their  consideration. 
Recollecting,  however,  that  propositions  to  introduce  a  new 
feature  in  our  fundamental  laws  can  not  be  too  patiently 
examined,  and  ought  not  to  be  received  with  favor  until  the 
great  body  of  the  people  are  thoroughly  impressed  with 
their  necessity  and  value  as  a  remedy  for  real  evils,  I  feel 
that  in  renewing  the  recommendation  I  have  heretofore 
made  on  this  subject  I  am  not  transcending  the  bounds  of  a 
just  deference  to  the  sense  of  Congress  or  to  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  people.  However  much  we  may  differ  in  the 
choice  of  the  measures  which  should  guide  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Government,  there  can  be  but  little  doubt  in  the 
minds  of  those  who  are  really  friendly  to  the  republican 
features  of  our  system  that  one  of  its  most  important  se- 
curities consists  in  the  separation  of  the  legislative  and 
executive  powers  at  the  same  time  that  each  is  held  respon- 
sible to  the  great  source  of  authority,  which  is  acknowl- 
edged to  be  supreme,  in  the  will  of  the  people  constitution- 
ally expressed.  My  reflection  and  experience  satisfy  me 
that  the  framers  of  the  Constitution,  although  they  were 
anxious  to  mark  this  feature  as  a  settled  and  fixed  princi- 
ple in  the  structure  of  the  Government,  did  not  adopt  all 
the  precautions  that  were  necessary  to  secure  its  practical 
observance,  and  that  we  can  not  be  said  to  have  carried  into 


Seventh   Annual  Message  44 1 

complete  effect  their  intentions  until  the  evils  which  arise 
from  this  organic  defect  are  remedied. 

Considering  the  great  extent  of  our  Confederacy,  the 
rapid  increase  of  its  population,  and  the  diversity  of  their 
interests  and  pursuits,  it  can  not  be  disguised  that  the  con- 
tingency by  which  one  branch  of  the  Legislature  is  to  form 
itself  into  an  electoral  college  can  not  become  one  of  ordi- 
nary occurrence  without  producing  incalculable  mischief. 
What  was  intended  as  the  medicine  of  the  Constitution' in 
extreme  cases  can  not  be  frequently  used  without  changing 
its  character  and  sooner  or  later  producing  incurable  dis- 
order. 

Every  election  by  the  House  of  Representatives  is  calcu- 
lated to  lessen  the  force  of  that  security  which  is  derived 
from  the  distinct  and  separate  character  of  the  legislative 
and  executive  functions,  and  while  it  exposes  each  to  temp- 
tations adverse  to  their  efficiency  as  organs  of  the  Constitu- 
tion and  laws,  its  tendency  will  be  to  unite  both  in  resisting 
the  will  of  the  people,  and  thus  give  a  direction  to  the  Gov- 
ernment antirepublican  and  dangerous.  All  history  tells 
us  that  a  free  people  should  be  watchful  of  delegated  power, 
and  should  never  acquiesce  in  a  practice  which  will  dimin- 
ish their  control  over  it.  This  obligation,  so  universal  in 
its  application  to  all  the  principles  of  a  republic,  is  peculiarly 
so  in  ours,  where  the  formation  of  parties  founded  on  sec- 
tional interests  is  so  much  fostered  by  the  extent  of  our 
territory.  These  interests,  represented  by  candidates  for 
the  Presidency,  are  constantly  prone,  in  the  zeal  of  party 
and  selfish  objects,  to  generate  influences  unmindful  of  the 
general  good  and  forgetful  of  the  restraints  which  the  great 
body  of  the  people  would  enforce  if  they  were  in  no  con- 
tingency to  lose  the  right  of  expressing  their  will.  The 
experience  of  our  country  from  the  formation  of  the  Gov- 
ernment to  the  present  day  demonstrates  that  the  people  can 
not  too  soon  adopt  some  stronger  safeguard  for  their  right 
to  elect  the  highest  officers  known  to  the  Constitution  than 
is  contained  in  that  sacred  instrument  as  it  now  stands. 

It  is  my  duty  to  call  the  particular  attention  of  Congress 


442  Andrew  Jackson 

to  the  present  condition  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  From 
whatever  cause  the  great  depression  has  arisen  which  now 
exists  in  the  pecuniary  concerns  of  this  District,  it  is  proper 
that  its  situation  should  be  fully  understood  and  such  relief 
or  remedies  provided  as  are  consistent  with  the  powers  of 
Congress.  I  earnestly  recommend  the  extension  of  every 
political  right  to  the  citizens  of  this  District  which  their 
true  interests  require,  and  which  does  not  conflict  with  the 
provisions  of  the  Constitution.  It  is  believed  that  the  laws 
for  the  government  of  the  District  require  revisal  and 
amendment,  and  that  much  good  may  be  done  by  modify- 
ing the  penal  code  so  as  to  give  uniformity  to  its  provisions. 

Your  attention  is  also  invited  to  the  defects  which  exist 
in  the  judicial  system  of  the  United  States.  As  at  present 
organized  the  States  of  the  Union  derive  unequal  advan- 
tages from  the  Federal  judiciary,  which  have  been  so  often 
pointed  out  that  I  deem  it  unnecessary  to  repeat  them  here. 
It  is  hoped  that  the  present  Congress  will  extend  to  all  the 
States  that  equality  in  respect  to  the  benefits  of  the  laws 
of  the  Union  which  can  only  be  secured  by  the  uniformity 
and  efficiency  of  the  judicial  system. 

With  these  observations  on  the  topics  of  general  interest 
which  are  deemed  worthy  of  your  consideration,  I  leave 
them  to  your  care,  trusting  that  the  legislative  measures 
they  call  for  will  be  met  as  the  wants  and  the  best  interests 
of  our  beloved  country  demand. 


Message  on  Affairs  with  France.* 

(January  15,   1836.) 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  Gentle- 
men: In  my  message  at  the  opening  of  your  session  I  in- 
formed you  that  our  charge  d'affaires  at  Paris  had  been 
instructed  to  ask  for  the  final  determination  of  the  French 
Government  in  relation  to  the  payment  of  the  indemnifica- 
tion secured  by  the  treaty  of  the  4th  of  July,  1831,  and 
that  when  advices  of  the  result  should  be  received  it  would 
be  made  the  subject  of  a  special  communication. 

In  execution  of  this  design  I  now  transmit  to  you  the 
papers  numbered  from  i  to  13,  inclusive,  containing  among 
other  things  the  correspondence  on  this  subject  between 
our  charge  d'affaires  and  the  French  minister  of  foreign 
affairs,  from  which  it  will  be  seen  that  France  requires  as 
a  condition  precedent  to  the  execution  of  a  treaty  uncondi- 
tionally ratified  and  to  the  payment  of  a  debt  acknowledged 
by  all  the  branches  of  her  Government  to  be  due  that  certain 
explanations  shall  be  made  of  which  she  dictates  the  terms. 
These  terms  are  such  as  that  Government  has  already  been 
officially  informed  can  not  be  complied  with,  and  if  per- 
sisted in  they  must  be  considered  as  a  deliberate  refusal  on 
the  part  of  France  to  fulfill  engagements  binding  by  the 
laws  of  nations  and  held  sacred  by  the  whole  civilized  world. 
The  nature  of  the  act  which  France  requires  from  this  Gov- 
ernment is  clearly  set  forth  in  the  letter  of  the  French  min- 
ister marked  No.  4.  We  will  pay  the  money,  says  he,  when 
"  the  Government  of  the  United  States  is  ready  on  its  part 
to  declare  to  us,  by  addressing  its  claim  to  us  officially  in 
writing,   that  it  regrets  the  misunderstanding  which  has 

*  This  message  ranks  among  the  most  notable  American  State 
papers  on  foreign  relations.     [Ed.] 

443 


444  Andrew  Jackson 

arisen  between  the  two  countries;  that  this  misunderstand- 
ing is  founded  on  a  mistake;  that  it  never  entered  its  inten- 
tion to  call  in  question  the  good  faith  of  the  French  Govern- 
ment nor  to  take  a  menacing  attitude  toward  France." 
And  he  adds :  "  //  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
does  not  give  this  assurance  we  shall  be  obliged  to  think 
that  this  misunderstanding  is  not  the  result  of  an  error." 
In  the  letter  marked  No.  6  the  French  minister  also  remarks 
that  "  the  Government  of  the  United  States  knows  that 
upon  itself  depends  henceforward  the  execution  of  the  treaty 
of  Jidy  4,  1831." 

Obliged  by  the  precise  language  thus  used  by  the  French 
minister  to  view  it  as  a  peremptory  refusal  to  execute  the 
treaty  except  on  terms  incompatible  with  the  honor  and 
independence  of  the  United  States,  and  persuaded  that  on 
considering  the  correspondence  now  submitted  to  you  you 
can  regard  it  in  no  other  light,  it  becomes  my  duty  to  call 
your  attention  to  such  measures  as  the  exigency  of  the  case 
demands  if  the  claim  of  interfering  in  the  communications 
between  the  different  branches  of  our  Government  shall  be 
persisted  in.  This  pretension  is  rendered  the  more  un- 
reasonable by  the  fact  that  the  substance  of  the  required 
explanation  has  been  repeatedly  and  voluntarily  given  be- 
fore it  was  insisted  on  as  a  condition — a  condition  the  more 
humiliating  because  it  is  demanded  as  the  equivalent  of  a 
pecuniary  consideration.  Does  France  desire  only  a  dec- 
laration that  we  had  no  intention  to  obtain  our  rights  by 
an  address  to  her  fears  rather  than  to  her  justice?  She  has 
already  had  it,  frankly  and  explicitly  given  by  our  minister 
accredited  to  her  Government,  his  act  ratified  by  me,  and 
my  confirmation  of  it  officially  communicated  by  him  in  his 
letter  to  the  French  minister  of  foreign  affairs  of  the  25th 
of  April,  1835,  and  repeated  by  my  published  approval  of 
that  letter  after  the  passage  of  the  bill  of  indemnification. 
Does  France  want  a  degrading,  servile  repetition  of  this  act, 
in  terms  which  she  shall  dictate  and  which  will  involve  an 
acknowledgment  of  her  assumed  right  to  interfere  in  our 
domestic  councils?     She  will  never  obtain  it.     The  spirit 


Message  on   Affairs  with  France    445 

of  the  American  people,  the  dignity  of  the  Legislature,  and 
the  firm  resolve  of  their  executive  government  forbid  it. 

As  the  answer  of  the  French  minister  to  our  charge 
d'affaires  at  Paris  contains  an  allusion  to  a  letter  addressed 
by  him  to  the  representative  of  France  at  this  place,  it  now 
becomes  proper  to  lay  before  you  the  correspondence  had 
between  that  functionary  and  the  Secretary  of  State  rela- 
tive to  that  letter,  and  to  accompany  the  same  with  such 
explanations  as  will  enable  you  to  understand  the  course 
of  the  Executive  in  regard  to  it.  Recurring  to  the  histor- 
ical statement  made  at  the  commencement  of  your  session, 
of  the  origin  and  progress  of  our  difficulties  with  France,  it 
will  be  recollected  that  on  the  return  of  our  minister  to  the 
United  States  I  caused  my  official  approval  of  the  explana- 
tions he  had  given  to  the  French  minister  of  foreign  affairs 
to  be  made  public.  As  the  French  Government  had  noticed 
the  message  without  its  being  officially  communicated,  it 
was  not  doubted  that  if  they  were  disposed  to  pay  the  money 
due  to  us  they  would  notice  any  public  explanation  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  in  the  same  way.  But, 
contrary  to  these  well-founded  expectations,  the  French 
ministry  did  not  take  this  fair  opportunity  to  relieve  them- 
selves from  their  unfortunate  position  and  to  do  justice  to 
the  United  States. 

Whilst,  however,  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
was  awaiting  the  movements  of  the  French  Government  in 
perfect  confidence  that  the  difficulty  was  at  an  end,  the  Sec- 
retary of  State  received  a  call  from  the  French  charge 
d'affaires  in  Washington,  who  desired  to  read  to  him  a  let- 
ter he  had  received  from  the  French  minister  of  foreign 
affairs.  He  was  asked  whether  he  was  instructed  or  di- 
rected to  make  any  official  communication,  and  replied  that 
he  was  only  authorized  to  read  the  letter  and  furnish  a  copy 
if  requested.  The  substance  of  its  contents,  it  is  presumed, 
may  be  gathered  from  Nos.  4  and  6,  herewith  transmitted. 
It  was  an  attempt  to  make  known  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  privately  in  what  manner  it  could  make  ex- 
planations,   apparently    voluntary,    but    really    dictated    by 


44^  Andrew  Jackson 

France,  acceptable  to  her,  and  thus  obtain  payment  of  the 
25,000,000  francs.  No  exception  was  taken  to  this  mode 
of  communication,  which  is  often  used  to  prepare  the  way 
for  official  intercourse,  but  the  suggestions  made  in  it  were 
in  their  substance  wholly  inadmissible.  Not  being  in  the 
shape  of  an  official  communication  to  this  Government,  it 
did  not  admit  of  reply  or  official  notice,  nor  could  it  safely 
be  made  the  basis  of  any  action  by  the  Executive  or  the 
Legislature,  and  the  Secretary  of  State  did  not  think  proper 
to  ask  a  copy,  because  he  could  have  no  use  for  it.  Copies 
of  papers  marked  Nos.  9,  10,  and  11  shew  an  attempt  on 
the  part  of  the  French  charge  d'affaires  to  place  a  copy  of 
this  letter  among  the  archives  of  this  Government,  which 
for  obvious  reasons  was  not  allowed  to  be  done ;  but  the 
assurance  before  given  was  repeated,  that  any  official  com- 
munication which  he  might  be  authorized  to  make  in  the 
accustomed  form  would  receive  a  prompt  and  just  consid- 
eration. The  indiscretion  of  this  attempt  was  made  more 
manifest  by  the  subsequent  avowal  of  the  French  charge 
d'affaires  that  the  object  was  to  bring  this  letter  before 
Congress  and  the  American  people.  If  foreign  agents,  on  a 
subject  of  disagreement  between  their  government  and  this, 
wish  to  prefer  an  appeal  to  the  American  people,  they  will 
hereafter,  it  is  hoped,  better  appreciate  their  own  rights  and 
the  respect  due  to  others  than  to  attempt  to  use  the  Execu- 
tive as  the  passive  organ  of  their  communications. 

It  is  due  to  the  character  of  our  institutions  that  the 
diplomatic  intercourse  of  this  Government  should  be  con- 
ducted with  the  utmost  directness  and  simplicity,  and  that 
in  all  cases  of  importance  the  communications  received  or 
made  by  the  Executive  should  assume  the  accustomed  official 
form.  It  is  only  by  insisting  on  this  form  that  foreign 
powers  can  be  held  to  full  responsibility,  that  their  com- 
munications can  be  officially  replied  to,  or  that  the  advice 
or  interference  of  the  Legislature  can  with  propriety  be 
invited  by  the  President.  This  course  is  also  best  calai- 
lated,  on  the  one  hand,  to  shield  that  officer  from  unjust 
suspicions,  and  on  the  other  to  subject  this  portion  of  his 


Message  on   Affairs  with  France    447 

acts  to  public  scrutiny,  and,  if  occasion  shall  require  it,  to 
constitutional  animadversion.  It  was  the  more  necessary  to 
adhere  to  these  principles  in  the  instance  in  question  inas- 
much as,  in  addition  to  other  important  interests,  it  very 
intimately  concerned  the  national  honor — a  matter  in  my 
judgment  much  too  sacred  to  be  made  the  subject  of  private 
and  unofficial  negotiation. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  this  letter  of  the  French  min- 
ister of  foreign  affairs  was  read  to  the  Secretary  of  State 
on  the  I  ith  of  September  last.  This  was  the  first  authentic 
indication  of  the  specific  views  of  the  French  Government 
received  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States  after  the 
passage  of  the  bill  of  indemnification.  Inasmuch  as  the 
letter  had  been  written  before  the  official  notice  of  my  ap- 
proval of  Mr.  Livingston's  last  explanation  and  remon- 
strance could  have  reached  Paris,  just  ground  of  hope  was 
left,  as  has  been  before  stated,  that  the  French  Government, 
on  receiving  that  information  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
alleged  offensive  message  had  reached  them,  would  desist 
from  their  extraordinary  demand  and  pay  the  money  at 
once.  To  give  them  an  opportunity  to  do  so,  and,  at  all 
events,  to  elicit  their  final  determination  and  the  ground 
they  intended  to  occupy,  the  instructions  were  given  to  our 
charge  d'affaires  which  were  adverted  to  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  present  session  of  Congress.  The  result,  as 
you  have  seen,  is  a  demand  of  an  official  written  expression 
of  regrets  and  a  direct  explanation  addressed  to  France 
with  a  distinct  intimation  that  this  is  a  sine  qua  non. 

Mr.  Barton  having,  in  pursuance  of  his  instructions,  re- 
turned to  the  United  States  and  the  charge  d'affaires  of 
France  having  been  recalled,  all  diplomatic  intercourse  be- 
tween the  two  countries  is  suspended,  a  state  of  things  origi- 
nating in  an  unreasonable  susceptibility  on  the  part  of  the 
French  Government  and  rendered  necessary  on  our  part  by 
their  refusal  to  perform  engagements  contained  in  a  treaty 
from  the  faithful  performance  of  which  by  us  they  are  to 
this  day  enjoying  many  important  commercial  advantages. 

It  is  time  that  this  unequal  position  of  affairs  should 


44^  Andrew  Jackson 

cease,  and  that  legislative  action  should  be  brought  to  sus- 
tain Executive  exertion  in  such  measures  as  the  case  re- 
quires. While  France  persists  in  her  refusal  to  comply 
with  the  terms  of  a  treaty  the  object  of  which  was,  by  re- 
moving all  causes  of  mutual  complaint,  to  renew  ancient 
feelings  of  friendship  and  to  unite  the  two  nations  in  the 
bonds  of  amity  and  of  a  mutually  beneficial  commerce,  she 
can  not  justly  complain  if  we  adopt  such  peaceful  remedies 
as  the  law  of  nations  and  the  circumstances  of  the  case  may 
authorize  and  demand.  Of  the  nature  of  these  remedies  I 
have  heretofore  had  occasion  to  speak,  and,  in  reference  to 
a  particular  contingency,  to  express  my  conviction  that 
reprisals  would  be  best  adapted  to  the  emergency  then  con- 
templated. Since  that  period  France,  by  all  the  depart- 
ments of  her  Government,  has  acknowledged  the  validity 
of  our  claims  and  the  obligations  of  the  treaty,  and  has 
appropriated  the  moneys  which  are  necessary  to  its  execu- 
tion; and  though  payment  is  withheld  on  grounds  vitally 
important  to  our  existence  as  an  independent  nation,  it  is 
not  to  be  believed  that  she  can  have  determined  permanently 
to  retain  a  position  so  utterly  indefensible.  In  the  altered 
state  of  the  questions  in  controversy,  and  under  all  existing 
circumstances,  it  appears  to  me  that  until  such  a  determina- 
tion shall  have  become  evident  it  will  be  proper  and  suffi- 
cient to  retaliate  her  present  refusal  to  comply  with  her 
engagements  by  prohibiting  the  introduction  of  French 
products  and  the  entry  of  French  vessels  into  our  ports. 
Between  this  and  the  interdiction  of  all  commercial  inter- 
course, or  other  remedies,  you,  as  the  representatives  of  the 
people,  must  determine.  I  recommend  the  former  in  the 
present  posture  of  our  affairs  as  being  the  least  injurious 
to  our  commerce,  and  as  attended  with  the  least  difficulty 
of  returning  to  the  usual  state  of  friendly  intercourse  if  the 
Government  of  France  shall  render  us  the  justice  that  is 
due,  and  also  as  a  proper  preliminary  step  to  stronger  meas- 
ures should  their  adoption  be  rendered  necessary  by  subse- 
quent events. 

The  return  of  our  charge  d'affaires  is  attended  with  pub- 


Message  on  Affairs  with  France    449 

lie  notices  of  naval  preparations  on  the  part  of  France 
destined  for  our  seas.  Of  the  cause  and  intent  of  these 
armaments  I  have  no  authentic  information,  nor  any  other 
means  of  judging  except  such  as  are  common  to  yourselves 
and  to  the  public ;  but  whatever  may  be  their  object,  we  are 
not  at  liberty  to  regard  them  as  unconnected  with  the  meas- 
ures which  hostile  movements  on  the  part  of  France  may 
compel  us  to  pursue.  They  at  least  deserve  to  be  met  by 
adequate  preparation  on  our  part,  and  I  therefore  strongly 
urge  large  and  speedy  appropriations  for  the  increase  of  the 
Navy  and  the  completion  of  our  coast  defenses. 

If  this  array  of  military  force  be  really  designed  to  affect 
the  action  of  the  Government  and  people  of  the  United 
States  on  the  questions  now  pending  between  the  two  na- 
tions, then  indeed  would  it  be  dishonorable  to  pause  a  mo- 
ment on  the  alternative  which  such  a  state  of  things  would 
present  to  us.  Come  what  may,  the  explanation  which 
France  demands  can  never  be  accorded,  and  no  armament, 
however  powerful  and  imposing,  at  a  distance  or  on  our 
coast,  will,  I  trust,  deter  us  from  discharging  the  high  duties 
which  we  owe  to  our  constituents,  our  national  character, 
and  to  the  world. 

The  House  of  Representatives  at  the  close  of  the  last 
session  of  Congress  unanimously  resolved  that  the  treaty 
of  the  4th  of  July,  183 1,  should  be  maintained  and  its  exe- 
cution insisted  on  by  the  United  States.  It  is  due  to  the 
welfare  of  the  human  race  not  less  than  to  our  own  interests 
and  honor  that  this  resolution  should  at  all  hazards  be  ad- 
hered to.  If  after  so  signal  an  example  as  that  given  by  the 
American  people  during  their  long-protracted  difficulties 
with  France  of  forbearance  under  accumulated  wrongs  and 
of  generous  confidence  in  her  ultimate  return  to  justice  she 
shall  now  be  permitted  to  withhold  from  us  the  tardy  and 
imperfect  indemnification  which  after  years  of  remon- 
strance and  discussion  had  at  length  been  solemnly  agreed 
on  by  the  treaty  of  1831  and  to  set  at  naught  the  obligations 
it  imposes,  the  United  States  will  not  be  the  only  sufferers. 
The  efforts  of  humanity  and  religion  to  substitute  the  ap- 


45°  Andrew  Jackson 

peals  of  justice  and  the  arbitrament  of  reason  for  the  coer- 
cive measures  usually  resorted  to  by  injured  nations  will 
receive  little  encouragement  from  such  an  issue.  By  the 
selection  and  enforcement  of  such  lawful  and  expedient 
measures  as  may  be  necessary  to  prevent  a  result  so  inju- 
rious to  ourselves  and  so  fatal  to  the  hopes  of  the  philan- 
thropist we  shall  therefore  not  only  preserve  the  pecuniary 
interests  of  our  citizens,  the  independence  of  our  Govern- 
ment, and  the  honor  of  our  country,  but  do  much,  it  may 
be  hoped,  to  vindicate  the  faith  of  treaties  and  to  promote 
the  general  interests  of  peace,  civilization,  and  improvement. 


Eighth  Annual  Message.* 

(December  5,  1836.) 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives: Addressing  to  you  the  last  annual  message  I  shall 
ever  present  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  it  is  a 
source  of  the  most  heartfelt  satisfaction  to  be  able  to  con- 
gratulate you  on  the  high  state  of  prosperity  which  our 
beloved  country  has  attained.  With  no  causes  at  home  or 
abroad  to  lessen  the  confidence  with  which  we  look  to  the 
future  for  continuing  proofs  of  the  capacity  of  our  free 
institutions  to  produce  all  the  fruits  of  good  government,  the 
general  condition  of  our  affairs  may  well  excite  our  national 
pride, 

I  can  not  avoid  congratulating  you,  and  my  country 
particularly,  on  the  success  of  the  efforts  made  during  my 
Administration  by  the  Executive  and  Legislature,  in  con- 
formity with  the  sincere,  constant,  and  earnest  desire  of 
the  people,  to  maintain  peace  and  establish  cordial  relations 
with  all  foreign  powers.  Our  gratitude  is  due  to  the  Su- 
preme Ruler  of  the  Universe,  and  I  invite  you  to  unite  with 
me  in  offering  to  Him  fervent  supplications  that  His  provi- 
dential care  may  ever  be  extended  to  those  who  follow  us, 
enabling  them  to  avoid  the  dangers  and  the  horrors  of  war 
consistently  with  a  just  and  indispensable  regard  to  the 
rights  and  honor  of  our  country.  But  although  the  present 
state  of  our   foreign   affairs,   standing  without   important 

*  President  Jackson's  last  annual  message.  Its  most  important 
declarations  concern,  (i)  French  spoliations  and  relations  with  France; 
(2)  relations  with  Mexico  and  the  Texas  question;  (3)  distribution  of 
the  $30,000,000  surplus;  (4)  the  currency;  (5)  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States;  (6)  State  banks;  (7)  the  Seminole  Indians,  the  Creeks,  the  Cher- 
okees;  (8)  election  of  president  and  vice-president. 

45 » 


452  Andrew  Jackson 

change,  as  they  did  when  you  separated  in  July  last,  is  flat- 
tering in  the  extreme,  I  regret  to  say  that  many  questions 
of  an  interesting  character,  at  issue  with  other  powers,  are 
yet  unadjusted.  Amongst  the  most  prominent  of  these  is 
that  of  our  northeastern  boundary.  With  an  undiminished 
confidence  in  the  sincere  desire  of  His  Britannic  Majesty's 
Government  to  adjust  that  question,  I  am  not  yet  in  posses- 
sion of  the  precise  grounds  upon  which  it  proposes  a  satis- 
factory adjustment. 

With  France  our  diplomatic  relations  have  been  resumed, 
and  under  circumstances  which  attest  the  disposition  of  both 
Governments  to  preserve  a  mutually  beneficial  intercourse 
and  foster  those  amicable  feelings  which  are  so  strongly 
required  by  the  true  interests  of  the  two  countries.  With 
Russia,  Austria,  Prussia,  Naples,  Sweden,  and  Denmark 
the  best  understanding  exists,  and  our  commercial  inter- 
course is  gradually  expanding  itself  with  them.  It  is  en- 
couraged in  all  these  countries,  except  Naples,  by  their 
mutually  advantageous  and  liberal  treaty  stipulations 
with  us. 

The  claims  of  our  citizens  on  Portugal  are  admitted  to 
be  just,  but  provision  for  the  payment  of  them  has  been 
unfortunately  delayed  by  frequent  political  changes  in  that 
Kingdom. 

The  blessings  of  peace  have  not  been  secured  by  Spain. 
Our  connections  with  that  country  are  on  the  best  footing, 
with  the  exception  of  the  burdens  still  imposed  upon  our 
commerce  with  her  possessions  out  of  Europe. 

The  claims  of  American  citizens  for  losses  sustained  at 
the  bombardment  of  Antwerp  have  been  presented  to  the 
Governments  of  Holland  and  Belgium,  and  will  be  pressed, 
in  due  season,  to  settlement. 

With  Brazil  and  all  our  neighbors  of  this  continent  we 
continue  to  maintain  relations  of  amity  and  concord,  ex- 
tending our  commerce  with  them  as  far  as  the  resources  of 
the  people  and  the  policy  of  their  Governments  will  permit. 
The  just  and  long-standing  claims  of  our  citizens  upon 
some  of  them  are  yet  sources  of  dissatisfaction  and  com- 


Eighth  Annual  Message  453 

plaint.  No  danger  is  apprehended,  however,  that  they  will 
not  be  peacefully,  although  tardily,  acknowledged  and  paid 
by  all,  unless  the  irritating  effect  of  her  struggle  with 
Texas  should  unfortunately  make  our  immediate  neighbor, 
Mexico,  an  exception. 

It  is  already  known  to  you,  by  the  correspondence  be- 
tween the  two  Governments  communicated  at  your  last  ses- 
sion, that  our  conduct  in  relation  to  that  struggle  is  regu- 
lated by  the  same  principles  that  governed  us  in  the  dispute 
between  Spain  and  Mexico  herself,  and  I  trust  that  it  will 
be  found  on  the  most  severe  scrutiny  that  our  acts  have 
strictly  corresponded  with  our  professions.  That  the  in- 
habitants of  the  United  States  should  feel  strong  prepos- 
sessions for  the  one  party  is  not  surprising.  But  this  cir- 
cumstance should  of  itself  teach  us  great  caution,  lest  it  lead 
us  into  the  great  error  of  suffering  public  policy  to  be 
regulated  by  partiality  or  prejudice;  and  there  are  consid- 
erations connected  with  the  possible  result  of  this  contest 
between  the  two  parties  of  so  much  delicacy  and  impor- 
tance to  the  United  States  that  our  character  requires  that 
we  should  neither  anticipate  events  nor  attempt  to  control 
them.  The  known  desire  of  the  Texans  to  become  a  part  of 
our  system,  although  its  gratification  depends  upon  the 
reconcilement  of  various  and  conflicting  interests,  neces- 
sarily a  work  of  time  and  uncertain  in  itself,  is  calculated 
to  expose  our  conduct  to  misconstruction  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world.  There  are  already  those  who,  indifferent  to 
principle  themselves  and  prone  to  suspect  the  want  of  it  in 
others,  charge  us  with  ambitious  designs  and  insidious 
policy.  You  will  perceive  by  the  accompanying  documents 
that  the  extraordinary  mission  from  Mexico  has  been  termi- 
nated on  the  sole  ground  that  the  obligations  of  this  Gov- 
ernment to  itself  and  to  Mexico,  under  treaty  stipulations, 
have  compelled  me  to  trust  a  discretionary  authority  to  a 
high  officer  of  our  Army  to  advance  into  territory  claimed  as 
part  of  Texas  if  necessary  to  protect  our  own  or  the  neigh- 
boring frontier  from  Indian  depredation.  In  the  opinion 
of  the  Mexican  functionary  who  has  just  left  us,  the  honor 


454  Andrew  Jackson 

of  his  country  will  be  wounded  by  American  soldiers  enter- 
ing, with  the  most  amicable  avowed  purposes,  upon  ground 
from  which  the  followers  of  his  Government  have  been 
expelled,  and  over  which  there  is  at  present  no  certainty  of 
a  serious  effort  on  its  part  being  made  to  reestablish  its 
dominion.  The  departure  of  this  minister  was  the  more 
singular  as  he  was  apprised  that  the  sufficiency  of  the  causes 
assigned  for  the  advance  of  our  troops  by  the  commanding 
general  had  been  seriously  doubted  by  me,  and  there  was 
every  reason  to  suppose  that  the  troops  of  the  United  States, 
their  commander  having  had  time  to  ascertain  the  truth 
or  falsehood  of  the  information  upon  which  they  had  been 
marched  to  Nacogdoches,  would  be  either  there  in  perfect 
accordance  with  the  principles  admitted  to  be  just  in  his 
conference  with  the  Secretary  of  State  by  the  Mexican  min- 
ister himself,  or  were  already  withdrawn  in  consequence 
of  the  impressive  warnings  their  commanding  officer  had 
received  from  the  Department  of  War.  It  is  hoped  and 
believed  that  his  Government  will  take  a  more  dispassionate 
and  just  view  of  this  subject,  and  not  be  disposed  to  con- 
strue a  measure  of  justifiable  precaution,  made  necessary  by 
its  known  inability  in  execution  of  the  stipulations  of  our 
treaty  to  act  upon  the  frontier,  into  an  encroachment  upon 
its  rights  or  a  stain  upon  its  honor. 

In  the  meantime  the  ancient  complaints  of  injustice  made 
on  behalf  of  our  citizens  are  disregarded,  and  new  causes  of 
dissatisfaction  have  arisen,  some  of  them  of  a  character 
requiring  prompt  remonstrance  and  ample  and  immediate 
redress.  I  trust,  however,  by  tempering  firmness  with 
courtesy  and  acting  with  great  forbearance  upon  every  inci- 
dent that  has  occurred  or  that  may  happen,  to  do  and  to 
obtain  justice,  and  thus  avoid  the  necessity  of  again  bring- 
ing this  subject  to  the  view  of  Congress. 

It  is  my  duty  to  remind  you  that  no  provision  has  been 
made  to  execute  our  treaty  with  Mexico  for  tracing  the 
boundary  line  between  the  two  countries.  Whatever  may 
be  the  prospect  of  Mexico's  being  soon  able  to  execute  the 
treaty  on  its  part,  it  is  proper  that  we  should  be  in  anticipa- 


Eighth   Annual   Message  455 

tion  prepared  at  all  times  to  perform  our  obligations,  with- 
out regard  to  the  probable  condition  of  those  with  whom 
we  have  contracted  them. 

The  result  of  the  confidential  inquiries  made  into  the 
condition  and  prospects  of  the  newly  declared  Texan  Gov- 
ernment will  be  communicated  to  you  in  the  course  of  the 
session. 

Commercial  treaties  promising  great  advantages  to  our 
enterprising  merchants  and  navigators  have  been  formed 
with  the  distant  Governments  of  Muscat  and  Siam.  The 
ratifications  have  been  exchanged,  but  have  not  reached  the 
Department  of  State.  Copies  of  the  treaties  will  be  trans- 
mitted to  you  if  received  before,  or  published  if  arriving 
after,  the  close  of  the  present  session  of  Congress. 

Nothing  has  occurred  to  interrupt  the  good  understand- 
ing that  has  long  existed  with  the  Barbary  Powers,  nor  to 
check  the  good  will  which  is  gradually  growing  up  from 
our  intercourse  with  the  dominions  of  the  Government  of 
the  distinguished  chief  of  the  Ottoman  Empire. 

Information  has  been  received  at  the  Department  of  State 
that  a  treaty  with  the  Emperor  of  Morocco  has  just  been 
negotiated,  which,  I  hope,  will  be  received  in  time  to  be  laid 
before  the  Senate  previous  to  the  close  of  the  session. 

You  will  perceive  from  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  that  the  financial  means  of  the  country  continue  to 
keep  pace  with  its  improvement  in  all  other  respects.  The 
receipts  into  the  Treasury  during  the  present  year  will 
amount  to  about  $47,691,898;  those  from  customs  being 
estimated  at  $22,523,151,  those  from  lands  at  about 
$24,000,000,  and  the  residue  from  miscellaneous  sources. 
The  expenditures  for  all  objects  during  the  year  are  esti- 
mated not  to  exceed  $32,000,000,  which  will  leave  a  balance 
in  the  Treasury  for  public  purposes  on  the  ist  day  of 
January  next  of  about  $41,723,959.  This  sum,  with  the 
exception  of  $5,000,000,  will  be  transferred  to  the  several 
States  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  act  regu- 
lating the  deposits  of  the  public  money. 

The  unexpended  balances   of  appropriation  on  the    ist 


45^  Andrew  Jackson 

day  of  January  next  are  estimated  at  $14,636,062,  ex- 
ceeding by  $9,636,062  the  amount  which  will  be  left  in  the 
deposit  banks,  subject  to  the  draft  of  the  Treasurer  of  the 
United  States,  after  the  contemplated  transfers  to  the  sev- 
eral States  are  made.  If,  therefore,  the  future  receipts 
should  not  be  sufficient  to  meet  these  outstanding  and 
future  appropriations,  there  may  be  soon  a  necessity  to  use 
a  portion  of  the  funds  deposited  with  the  States. 

The  consequences  apprehended  when  the  deposit  act  of 
the  last  session  received  a  reluctant  approval  have  been 
measurably  realized.  Though  an  act  merely  for  the  deposit 
of  the  surplus  moneys  of  the  United  States  in  the  State 
treasuries  for  safe-keeping  until  they  may  be  wanted  for  the 
service  of  the  General  Government,  it  has  been  extensively 
spoken  of  as  an  act  to  give  the  money  to  the  several  States, 
and  they  have  been  advised  to  use  it  as  a  gift,  without  re- 
gard to  the  means  of  refunding  it  when  called  for.  Such 
a  suggestion  has  doubtless  been  made  without  a  due  consid- 
eration of  the  obligations  of  the  deposit  act,  and  without  a 
proper  attention  to  the  various  principles  and  interests 
which  are  affected  by  it.  It  is  manifest  that  the  law  itself 
can  not  sanction  such  a  suggestion,  and  that  as  it  now  stands 
the  States  have  no  more  authority  to  receive  and  use  these 
deposits  without  intending  to  return  them  than  any  deposit 
bank  or  any  individual  temporarily  charged  with  the  safe- 
keeping or  application  of  the  public  money  would  now  have 
for  converting  the  same  to  their  private  use  without  the 
consent  and  against  the  will  of  the  Government.  But  inde- 
pendently of  the  violation  of  public  faith  and  moral  obliga- 
tion which  are  involved  in  this  suggestion  when  examined 
in  reference  to  the  terms  of  the  present  deposit  act,  it  is 
believed  that  the  considerations  which  should  govern  the 
future  legislation  of  Congress  on  this  subject  will  be  equally 
conclusive  against  the  adoption  of  any  measure  recognizing 
the  principles  on  which  the  suggestion  has  been  made. 

Considering  the  intimate  connection  of  the  subject  with 
the  financial  interests  of  the  country  and  its  great  impor- 
tance in  whatever  aspect  it  can  be  viewed,  I  have  bestowed 


Eighth  Annual  Message  457 

upon  it  the  most  anxious  reflection,  and  feel  it  to  be  my  duty 
to  state  to  Congress  such  thoughts  as  have  occurred  to  me, 
to  aid  their  dehberation  in  treating  it  in  the  manner  best 
calculated  to  conduce  to  the  common  good. 

The  experience  of  other  nations  admonished  us  to  hasten 
the  extinguishment  of  the  public  debt;  but  it  will  be  in  vain 
that  we  have  congratulated  each  other  upon  the  disappear- 
ance of  this  evil  if  we  do  not  guard  against  the  equally  great 
one  of  promoting  the  unnecessary  accumulation  of  public 
revenue.  No  political  maxim  is  better  established  than 
that  which  tells  us  that  an  improvident  expenditure  of 
money  is  the  parent  of  profligacy,  and  that  no  people  can 
hope  to  perpetuate  their  liberties  who  long  acquiesce  in  a 
policy  which  taxes  them  for  objects  not  necessary  to  the 
legitimate  and  real  wants  of  their  Government.  Flatter- 
ing as  is  the  condition  of  our  country  at  the  present  period, 
because  of  its  unexampled  advance  in  all  the  steps  of  social 
and  political  improvement,  it  can  not  be  disguised  that  there 
is  a  lurking  danger  already  apparent  in  the  neglect  of  this 
warning  truth,  and  that  the  time  has  arrived  when  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  people  should  be  employed  in  devising 
some  more  appropriate  remedy  than  now  exists  to  avert  it. 

Under  our  present  revenue  system  there  is  every  proba- 
bility that  there  will  continue  to  be  a  surplus  beyond  the 
wants  of  the  Government,  and  it  has  become  our  duty  to 
decide  whether  such  a  result  be  consistent  with  the  true 
objects  of  our  Government. 

Should  a  surplus  be  permitted  i-o  accumulate  beyond  the 
appropriations,  it  must  be  retained  in  the  Treasury,  as  it 
now  is,  or  distributed  among  the  people  or  the  States. 

To  retain  it  in  the  Treasury  unemployed  in  any  way  is 
impracticable;  it  is,  besides,  against  the  genius  of  our  free 
institutions  to  lock  up  in  vaults  the  treasure  of  the  nation. 
To  take  from  the  people  the  right  of  bearing  arms  and  put 
their  weapons  of  defense  in  the  hands  of  a  standing  army 
would  be  scarcely  more  dangerous  to  their  liberties  than  to 
permit  the  Government  to  accumulate  immense  amounts  of 
treasure   beyond   the    supplies   necessary   to   its   legitimate 


45 8  Andrew  Jackson 

wants.  Such  a  treasure  would  doubtless  be  employed  at 
some  time,  as  it  has  been  in  other  countries,  when  oppor- 
tunity tempted  ambition. 

To  collect  it  merely  for  distribution  to  the  States  would 
seem  to  be  highly  impolitic,  if  not  as  dangerous  as  the 
proposition  to  retain  it  in  the  Treasury.  The  shortest  re- 
flection must  satisfy  everyone  that  to  require  the  people  to 
pay  taxes  to  the  Government  merely  that  they  may  be  paid 
back  again  is  sporting  with  the  substantial  interests  of  the 
country,  and  no  system  which  produces  such  a  result  can 
be  expected  to  receive  the  public  countenance.  Nothing 
could  be  gained  by  it  even  if  each  individual  who  contrib- 
uted a  portion  of  the  tax  could  receive  back  promptly  the 
same  portion.  But  it  is  apparent  that  no  system  of  the 
kind  can  ever  be  enforced  which  will  not  absorb  a  consid- 
erable portion  of  the  money  to  be  distributed  in  salaries 
and  commissions  to  the  agents  employed  in  the  process  and 
in  the  various  losses  and  depreciations  which  arise  from 
other  causes^  and  the  practical  effect  of  such  an  attempt 
must  ever  be  to  burden  the  people  with  taxes,  not  for  pur- 
poses beneficial  to  them,  but  to  swell  the  profits  of  deposit 
banks  and  support  a  band  of  useless  public  officers. 

A  distribution  to  the  people  is  impracticable  and  unjust 
in  other  respects.  It  would  be  taking  one  man's  property 
and  giving  it  to  another.  Such  would  be  the  unavoidable 
result  of  a  rule  of  equality  (and  none  other  is  spoken  of  or 
would  be  likely  to  be  adopted),  inasmuch  as  there  is  no 
mode  by  which  the  amount  of  the  individual  contributions 
of  our  citizens  to  the  public  revenue  can  be  ascertained. 
We  know  that  they  contribute  unequally,  and  a  rule,  there- 
fore, that  would  distribute  to  them  equally  would  be  liable 
to  all  the  objections  which  apply  to  the  principle  of  an  equal 
division  of  property.  To  make  the  General  Government 
the  instrument  of  carrying  this  odious  principle  into  effect 
would  be  at  once  to  destroy  the  means  of  its  usefulness  and 
change  the  character  designed  for  it  by  the  framers  of  the 
Constitution. 

But  the  more  extended  and  injurious  consequences  likely 


Eighth  Annual  Message  459 

to  result  from  a  policy  which  would  collect  a  surplus  reve- 
nue for  the  purpose  of  distributing  it  may  be  forcibly  illus- 
trated by  an  examination  of  the  effects  already  produced 
by  the  present  deposit  act.  This  act,  although  certainly 
designed  to  secure  the  safe-keeping  of  the  public  revenue,  is 
not  entirely  free  in  its  tendencies  from  any  of  the  objections 
which  apply  to  this  principle  of  distribution.  The  Govern- 
ment had  without  necessity  received  from  the  people  a  large 
surplus,  which,  instead  of  being  employed  as  heretofore 
and  returned  to  them  by  means  of  the  public  expenditure, 
was  deposited  with  sundry  banks.  The  banks  proceeded  to 
make  loans  upon  this  surplus,  and  thus  converted  it  into 
banking  capital,  and  in  this  manner  it  has  tended  to  multiply 
bank  charters  and  has  had  a  great  agency  in  producing  a 
spirit  of  wild  speculation.  The  possession  and  use  of  the 
property  out  of  which  this  surplus  was  created  belonged  to 
the  people,  but  the  Government  has  transferred  its  posses- 
sion to  incorporated  banks,  whose  interest  and  effort  it  is  to 
make  large  profits  out  of  its  use.  This  process  need  only 
be  stated  to  show  its  injustice  and  bad  policy. 

And  the  same  observations  apply  to  the  influence  which 
is  produced  by  the  steps  necessary  to  collect  as  well  as  to 
distribute  such  a  revenue.  About  three-fifths  of  all  the 
duties  on  imports  are  paid  in  the  city  of  New  York,  but  it 
is  obvious  that  the  means  to  pay  those  duties  are  drawn 
from  every  quarter  of  the  Union.  Every  citizen  in  every 
State  who  purchases  and  consumes  an  article  which  has 
paid  a  duty  at  that  port  contributes  to  the  accumulating 
mass.  The  surplus  collected  there  must  therefore  be  made 
up  of  moneys  or  property  withdrawn  from  other  points 
and  other  States.  Thus  the  wealth  and  business  of  every 
region  from  which  these  surplus  funds  proceed  must  be  to 
some  extent  injured,  while  that  of  the  place  where  the  funds 
are  concentrated  and  are  employed  in  banking  are  propor- 
tionably  extended.  But  both  in  making  the  transfer  of  the 
funds  which  are  first  necessary  to  pay  the  duties  and  col- 
lect the  surplus  and  in  making  the  retransfer  which  be- 
comes necessary  w^hen  the  time  arrives  for  the  distribution 


4^0  Andrew  Jackson 

of  that  surplus  there  is  a  considerable  period  when  the  funds 
can  not  be  brought  into  use,  and  it  is  manifest  that,  besides 
the  loss  inevitable  from  such  an  operation,  its  tendency  is 
to  produce  fluctuations  in  the  business  of  the  country,  which 
are  always  productive  of  speculation  and  detrimental  to  the 
interests  of  regular  trade.  Argument  can  scarcely  be  neces- 
sary to  show  that  a  measure  of  this  character  ought  not  to 
receive  further  legislative  encouragement. 

By  examining  the  practical  operation  of  the  ratio  for  dis- 
tribution adopted  in  the  deposit  bill  of  the  last  session  we 
shall  discover  other  features  that  appear  equally  objection- 
able. Let  it  be  assumed,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that 
the  surplus  moneys  to  be  deposited  with  the  States  have 
been  collected  and  belong  to  them  in  the  ratio  of  their 
federal  representative  population — an  assumption  founded 
upon  the  fact  that  any  deficiencies  in  our  future  revenue 
from  imposts  and  public  lands  must  be  made  up  by  direct 
taxes  collected  from  the  States  in  that  ratio.  It  is  proposed 
to  distribute  this  surplus — say  $30,000,000 — not  according 
to  the  ratio  in  which  it  has  been  collected  and  belongs  to  the 
people  of  the  States,  but  in  that  of  their  votes  in  the  col- 
leges of  electors  of  President  and  Vice-President.  The 
effect  of  a  distribution  upon  that  ratio  is  shown  by  the 
annexed  table,  marked  A. 

By  an  examination  of  that  table  it  will  be  perceived  that 
in  the  distribution  of  a  surplus  of  $30,000,000  upon  that 
basis  there  is  a  great  departure  from  the  principle  which 
regards  representation  as  the  true  measure  of  taxation,  and 
it  will  be  found  that  the  tendency  of  that  departure  will  be 
to  increase  whatever  inequalities  have  been  supposed  to  at- 
tend the  operation  of  our  federal  system  in  respect  to  its 
bearings  upon  the  different  interests  of  the  Union.  In  mak- 
ing the  basis  of  representation  the  basis  of  taxation  the 
framers  of  the  Constitution  intended  to  equalize  the  bur- 
dens which  are  necessary  to  support  the  Government,  and 
the  adoption  of  that  ratio,  while  it  accomplished  this  object, 
was  also  the  means  of  adjusting  other  great  topics  arising 
out  of  the  conflicting  views  respecting  the  political  equality 


Eighth  Annual  Message  4^1 

of  the  various  members  of  the  Confederacy.  Whatever, 
therefore,  disturbs  the  liberal  spirit  of  the  compromises 
which  established  a  rule  of  taxation  so  just  and  equitable, 
and  which  experience  has  proved  to  be  so  well  adapted  to 
the  genius  and  habits  of  our  people,  should  be  received  with 
the  greatest  caution  and  distrust. 

A  bare  inspection  in  the  annexed  table  of  the  differences 
produced  by  the  ratio  used  in  the  deposit  act  compared  with 
the  results  of  a  distribution  according  to  the  ratio  of  direct 
taxation  must  satisfy  every  unprejudiced  mind  that  the 
former  ratio  contravenes  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution  and 
produces  a  degree  of  injustice  in  the  operations  of  the  Fed- 
eral Government  which  would  be  fatal  to  the  hope  of  per- 
petuating it.  By  the  ratio  of  direct  taxation,  for  example, 
the  State  of  Delaware  in  the  collection  of  $30,000,000  of 
revenue  would  pay  into  the  Treasury  $188,716,  and  in  a 
distribution  of  $30,000,000  she  would  receive  back  from 
the  Government,  according  to  the  ratio  of  the  deposit  bill, 
the  sum  of  $306,122;  and  similar  results  would  follow  the 
comparison  between  the  small  and  the  large  States  through- 
out the  Union,  thus  realizing  to  the  small  States  an  advan- 
tage which  would  be  doubtless  as  unacceptable  to  them  as  a 
motive  for  incorporating  the  principle  in  any  system  which 
would  produce  it  as  it  would  be  inconsistent  with  the  rights 
and  expectations  of  the  large  States.  It  was  certainly  the 
intention  of  that  provision  of  the  Constitution  which  de- 
clares that  "  all  duties,  imposts,  and  excises  "  shall  "  be  uni- 
form throughout  the  United  States  "  to  make  the  burdens 
of  taxation  fall  equally  upon  the  people  in  whatever  State 
of  the  Union  they  may  reside.  But  what  would  be  the 
value  of  such  a  uniform  rule  if  the  moneys  raised  by  it 
could  be  immediately  returned  by  a  different  one  which 
will  give  to  the  people  of  some  States  much  more  and  to 
those  of  others  much  less  than  their  fair  proportions? 
Were  the  Federal  Government  to  exempt  in  express  terms 
the  imports,  products,  and  manufactures  of  some  portions 
of  the  country  from  all  duties  while  it  imposed  heavy  ones 
on  others,  the  injustice  could  not  be  greater.     It  would  be 


4^2  Andrew  Jackson 

easy  to  show  how  by  the  operation  of  such  a  principle  the 
large  States  of  the  Union  would  not  only  have  to  con- 
tribute their  just  share  toward  the  support  of  the  Federal 
Government,  but  also  have  to  bear  in  some  degree  the  taxes 
necessary  to  support  the  governments  of  their  smaller  sis- 
ters ;  but  it  is  deemed  unnecessary  to  state  the  details  where 
the  general  principle  is  so  obvious. 

A  system  liable  to  such  objections  can  never  be  supposed 
to  have  been  sanctioned  by  the  framers  of  the  Constitution 
when  they  conferred  on  Congress  the  taxing  power,  and  I 
feel  persuaded  that  a  mature  examination  of  the  subject 
will  satisfy  everyone  that  there  are  insurmountable  diffi- 
culties in  the  operation  of  any  plan  which  can  be  devised  of 
collecting  revenue  for  the  purpose  of  distributing  it.  Con- 
gress is  only  authorized  to  levy  taxes  "  to  pay  the  debts  and 
provide  for  the  common  defense  and  general  welfare  of  the 
United  States."  There  is  no  such  provision  as  would 
authorize  Congress  to  collect  together  the  property  of  the 
country,  under  the  name  of  revenue,  for  the  purpose  of 
dividing  it  equally  or  unequally  among  the  States  or  the 
people.  Indeed,  it  is  not  probable  that  such  an  idea  ever 
occurred  to  the  States  when  they  adopted  the  Constitution. 
But  however  this  may  be,  the  only  safe  rule  for  us  in  inter- 
preting the  powers  granted  to  the  Federal  Government  is 
to  regard  the  absence  of  express  authority  to  touch  a  sub- 
ject so  important  and  delicate  as  this  is  as  equivalent  to  a 
prohibition. 

Even  if  our  powers  were  less  doubtful  in  this  respect  as 
the  Constitution  now  stands,  there  are  considerations 
afforded  by  recent  experience  which  would  seem  to  make  it 
our  duty  to  avoid  a  resort  to  such  a  system. 

All  will  admit  that  the  simplicity  and  economy  of  the 
State  governments  mainly  depend  on  the  fact  that  money 
has  to  be  supplied  to  support  them  by  the  same  men,  or  their 
agents,  who  vote  it  away  in  appropriations.  Hence  when 
there  are  extravagant  and  wasteful  appropriations  there 
must  be  a  corresponding  increase  of  taxes,  and  the  people, 
becoming  awakened,  will  necessarily  scrutinize  the  charac- 


Eighth   Annual  Message  4^3 

ter  of  measures  which  thus  increase  their  burdens.  By  the 
watchful  eye  of  self-interest  the  agents  of  the  people  in  the 
State  governments  are  repressed  and  kept  within  the  limits 
of  a  just  economy.  But  if  the  necessity  of  levying  the 
taxes  be  taken  from  those  who  make  the  appropriations  and 
thrown  upon  a  more  distant  and  less  responsible  set  of  pub- 
lic agents,  who  have  power  to  approach  the  people  by  an 
indirect  and  stealthy  taxation,  there  is  reason  to  fear  that 
prodigality  will  soon  supersede  those  characteristics  which 
have  thus  far  made  us  look  with  so  much  pride  and  con- 
fidence to  the  State  governments  as  the  mainstay  of  our 
Union  and  liberties.  The  State  legislatures,  instead  of 
studying  to  restrict  their  State  expenditures  to  the  smallest 
possible  sum,  will  claim  credit  for  their  profusion,  and 
harass  the  General  Government  for  increased  supplies. 
Practically  there  would  soon  be  but  one  taxing  power,  and 
that  vested  in  a  body  of  men  far  removed  from  the  people, 
in  which  the  farming  and  mechanic  interests  would  scarcely 
be  represented.  The  States  would  gradually  lose  their  pur- 
ity as  well  as  their  independence;  they  would  not  dare  to 
murmur  at  the  proceedings  of  the  General  Government,  lest 
they  should  lose  their  supplies;  all  would  be  merged  in  a 
practical  consolidation,  cemented  by  widespread  corruption, 
which  could  only  be  eradicated  by  one  of  those  bloody  revo- 
lutions which  occasionally  overthrow  the  despotic  systems 
of  the  Old  World.  In  all  the  other  aspects  in  which  I  have 
been  able  to  look  at  the  effect  of  such  a  principle  of  dis- 
tribution upon  the  best  interests  of  the  country  I  can  see 
nothing  to  compensate  for  the  disadvantages  to  which  I 
have  adverted.  If  we  consider  the  protective  duties,  which 
are  in  a  great  degree  the  source  of  the  surplus  revenue, 
beneficial  to  one  section  of  the  Union  and  prejudicial  to 
another,  there  is  no  corrective  for  the  evil  in  such  a  plan 
of  distribution.  On  the  contrary,  there  is  reason  to  fear 
that  all  the  complaints  which  have  sprung  from  this  cause 
would  be  aggravated.  Everyone  must  be  sensible  that  a 
distribution  of  the  surplus  must  beget  a  disposition  to  cher- 
ish the  means  which  create  it,  and  any  system,  therefore, 


4^4  Andrew  Jackson 

into  which  it  enters  must  have  a  powerful  tendency  to  in- 
crease rather  than  diminish  the  tariff.  If  it  were  even 
admitted  that  the  advantages  of  such  a  system  could  be 
made  equal  to  all  the  sections  of  the  Union,  the  reasons 
already  so  urgently  calling  for  a  reduction  of  the  revenue 
would  nevertheless  lose  none  of  their  force,  for  it  will  al- 
ways be  improbable  that  an  intelligent  and  virtuous  com- 
munity can  consent  to  raise  a  surplus  for  the  mere  purpose 
of  dividing  it,  diminished  as  it  must  inevitably  be  by  the 
expenses  of  the  various  machinery  necessary  to  the  process. 

The  safest  and  simplest  mode  of  obviating  all  the  diffi- 
culties which  have  been  mentioned  is  to  collect  only  reve- 
nue enough  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  Government,  and  let 
the  people  keep  the  balance  of  their  property  in  their  own 
hands,  to  be  used  for  their  own  profit.  Each  State  will 
then  support  its  own  government  and  contribute  its  due 
share  toward  the  support  of  the  General  Government. 
There  would  be  no  surplus  to  cramp  and  lessen  the  resources 
of  individual  wealth  and  enterprise,  and  the  banks  would  be 
left  to  their  ordinary  means.  Whatever  agitations  and  fluc- 
tuations might  arise  from  our  unfortunate  paper  system, 
they  could  never  be  attributed,  justly  or  unjustly,  to  the 
action  of  the  Federal  Government.  There  would  be  some 
guaranty  that  the  spirit  of  wild  speculation  which  seeks  to 
convert  the  surplus  revenue  into  banking  capital  would  be 
effectually  checked,  and  that  the  scenes  of  demoralization 
which  are  now  so  prevalent  through  the  land  would 
disappear. 

Without  desiring  to  conceal  that  the  experience  and  ob- 
servation of  the  last  two  years  have  operated  a  partial 
change  in  my  views  upon  this  interesting  subject,  it  is 
nevertheless  regretted  that  the  suggestions  made  by  me  in 
my  annual  messages  of  1829  and  1830  have  been  greatly 
misunderstood.  At  that  time  the  great  struggle  was  begim 
against  that  latitudinarian  construction  of  the  Constitution 
which  authorizes  the  unlimited  appropriation  of  the  reve- 
nues of  the  Union  to  internal  improvements  within  the 
States,  tending  to  invest  in  the  hands  and  place  under  the 


Eighth   Annual  Message  4^5 

control  of  the  General  Government  all  the  principal  roads 
and  canals  of  the  country,  in  violation  of  State  rights  and  in 
derogation  of  State  authority.  At  the  same  time  the  con- 
dition of  the  manufacturing  interest  was  such  as  to  create  an 
apprehension  that  the  duties  on  imports  could  not  without 
extensive  mischief  be  reduced  in  season  to  prevent  the 
accumulation  of  a  considerable  surplus  after  the  payment 
of  the  national  debt.  In  view  of  the  dangers  of  such  a 
surplus,  and  in  preference  to  its  application  to  internal  im- 
provements in  derogation  of  the  rights  and  powers  of  the 
States,  the  suggestion  of  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution 
to  authorize  its  distribution  was  made.  It  was  an  alter- 
native for  what  were  deemed  greater  evils — a  temporary 
resort  to  relieve  an  overburdened  treasury  until  the  Govern- 
ment could,  without  a  sudden  and  destructive  revulsion  in 
the  business  of  the  country,  gradually  return  to  the  just 
principle  of  raising  no  more  revenue  from  the  people  in 
taxes  than  is  necessary  for  its  economical  support.  Even 
that  alternative  was  not  spoken  of  but  in  connection  with 
an  amendment  of  the  Constitution.  No  temporary  incon- 
venience can  justify  the  exercise  of  a  prohibited  power  or  a 
power  not  granted  by  that  instrument,  and  it  was  from  a 
conviction  that  the  power  to  distribute  even  a  temporary 
surplus  of  revenue  is  of  that  character  that  it  was  suggested 
only  in  connection  with  an  appeal  to  the  source  of  all  legal 
power  in  the  General  Government,  the  States  which  have 
established  it.  No  such  appeal  has  been  taken,  and  in  my 
opinion  a  distribution  of  the  surplus  revenue  by  Congress 
either  to  the  States  or  the  people  is  to  be  considered  as 
among  the  prohibitions  of  the  Constitution.  As  already 
intimated,  my  views  have  undergone  a  change  so  far  as 
to  be  convinced  that  no  alteration  of  the  Constitution  in 
this  respect  is  wise  or  expedient.  The  influence  of  an 
accumulating  surplus  upon  the  legislation  of  the  General 
Government  and  the  States,  its  effect  upon  the  credit  sys- 
tem of  the  country,  producing  dangerous  extensions  and 
ruinous  contractions,  fluctuations  in  the  price  of  property, 
rash  speculation,  idleness,  extravagance,  and  a  deterioration 


4^6  Andrew  Jackson 

of  morals,  have  taught  us  the  important  lesson  that  any 
transient  mischief  which  may  attend  the  reduction  of  our 
revenue  to  the  wants  of  our  Government  is  to  be  borne  in 
preference  to  an  overflowing  treasury. 

I  beg  leave  to  call  your  attention  to  another  subject  in- 
timately associated  with  the  preceding  one — the  currency 
of  the  country. 

It  is  apparent  from  the  whole  context  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, as  well  as  the  history  of  the  times  which  gave  birth 
to  it,  that  it  was  the  purpose  of  the  Convention  to  establish 
a  currency  consisting  of  the  precious  metals.  These,  from 
their  peculiar  properties  which  rendered  them  the  standard 
of  value  in  all  other  countries,  were  adopted  in  this  as  well 
to  establish  its  commercial  standard  in  reference  to  foreign 
countries  by  a  permanent  rule  as  to  exclude  the  use  of  a 
mutable  medium  of  exchange,  such  as  of  certain  agricul- 
tural commodities  recognized  by  the  statutes  of  some  States 
as  a  tender  for  debts,  or  the  still  more  pernicious  expedient 
of  a  paper  currency.  The  last,  from  the  experience  of  the 
evils  of  the  issues  of  paper  during  the  Revolution,  had  be- 
come so  justly  obnoxious  as  not  only  to  suggest  the  clause 
in  the  Constitution  forbidding  the  emission  of  bills  of 
credit  by  the  States,  but  also  to  produce  that  vote  in  the 
Convention  which  negatived  the  proposition  to  grant  power 
to  Congress  to  charter  corporations — a  proposition  well 
understood  at  the  time  as  intended  to  authorize  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  national  bank,  which  was  to  issue  a  currency 
of  bank  notes  on  a  capital  to  be  created  to  some  extent  out 
of  Government  stocks.  Although  this  proposition  was  re- 
fused by  a  direct  vote  of  the  Convention,  the  object  was 
afterwards  in  effect  obtained  by  its  ingenious  advocates 
through  a  strained  construction  of  the  Constitution.  The 
debts  of  the  Revolution  were  funded  at  prices  which  formed 
no  equivalent  compared  with  the  nominal  amount  of  the 
stock,  and  under  circumstances  which  exposed  the  motives 
of  some  of  those  who  participated  in  the  passage  of  the  act 
to  distrust. 

The  facts  that  the  value  of  the  stock  was  greatly  en- 


Eighth  Annual  Message  4^7 

hanced  by  the  creation  of  the  bank,  that  it  was  well  under- 
stood that  such  would  be  the  case,  and  that  some  of  the 
advocates  of  the  measure  were  largely  benefited  by  it  belong 
to  the  history  of  the  times,  and  are  well  calculated  to  dimin- 
ish the  respect  which  might  otherwise  have  been  due  to  the 
action  of  the  Congress  which  created  the  institution. 

On  the  establishment  of  a  national  bank  it  became  the 
interest  of  its  creditors  that  gold  should  be  superseded  by 
the  paper  of  the  bank  as  a  general  currency.  A  value  was 
soon  attached  to  the  gold  coins  which  made  their  exporta- 
tion to  foreign  countries  as  a  mercantile  commodity  more 
profitable  than  their  retention  and  use  at  home  as  money. 
It  followed  as  a  matter  of  course,  if  not  designed  by  those 
who  established  the  bank,  that  the  bank  became  in  effect  a 
substitute  for  the  Mint  of  the  United  States. 

Such  was  the  origin  of  a  national-bank  currency,  and 
such  the  beginning  of  those  difficulties  which  now  appear  in 
the  excessive  issues  of  the  banks  incorporated  by  the  various 
States. 

Although  it  may  not  be  possible  by  any  legislative  means 
within  our  power  to  change  at  once  the  system  which  has 
thus  been  introduced,  and  has  received  the  acquiescence  of 
all  portions  of  the  country,  it  is  certainly  our  duty  to  do  all 
that  is  consistent  with  our  constitutional  obligations  in  pre- 
venting the  mischiefs  which  are  threatened  by  its  undue 
extension.  That  the  efforts  of  the  fathers  of  our  Govern- 
ment to  guard  against  it  by  a  constitutional  provision  were 
founded  on  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  subject  has  been 
frequently  attested  by  the  bitter  experience  of  the  country. 
The  same  causes  which  led  them  to  refuse  their  sanction 
to  a  power  authorizing  the  establishment  of  incorporations 
for  banking  purposes  now  exist  in  a  much  stronger  degree 
to  urge  us  to  exeirt  the  utmost  vigilance  in  calling  into 
action  the  means  necessary  to  correct  the  evils  resulting 
from  the  unfortunate  exercise  of  the  power,  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  opportunity  for  effecting  this  great  good  will 
be  improved  before  the  country  witnesses  new  scenes  of 
embarrassment  and  distress. 


4^^  Andrew  Jackson 

Variableness  must  ever  be  the  characteristic  of  a  cur- 
rency of  which  the  precious  metals  are  not  the  chief  in- 
gredient, or  which  can  be  expanded  or  contracted  without 
regard  to  the  principles  that  regulate  the  value  of  those 
metals  as  a  standard  in  the  general  trade  of  the  world. 
With  us  bank  issues  constitute  such  a  currency,  and  must 
ever  do  so  until  they  are  made  dependent  on  those  just  pro- 
portions of  gold  and  silver  as  a  circulating  medium  which 
experience  has  proved  to  be  necessary  not  only  in  this  but  in 
all  other  commercial  countries.  Where  those  proportions 
are  not  infused  into  the  circulation  and  do  not  control  it,  it 
is  manifest  that  prices  must  vary  according  to  the  tide  of 
bank  issues,  and  the  value  and  stability  of  property  must 
stand  exposed  to  all  the  uncertainty  which  attends  the  ad- 
ministration of  institutions  that  are  constantly  liable  to  the 
temptation  of  an  interest  distinct  from  that  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  they  are  established. 

The  progress  of  an  expansion,  or  rather  a  depreciation, 
of  the  currency  by  excessive  bank  issues  is  always  attended 
by  a  loss  to  the  laboring  classes.  This  portion  of  the  com- 
munity have  neither  time  nor  opportunity  to  watch  the  ebbs 
and  flows  of  the  money  market.  Engaged  from  day  to 
day  in  their  useful  toils,  they  do  not  perceive  that  although 
their  wages  are  nominally  the  same,  or  even  somewhat 
higher,  they  are  greatly  reduced  in  fact  by  the  rapid  in- 
crease of  a  spurious  currency,  which,  as  it  appears  to  make 
money  abound,  they  are  at  first  inclined  to  consider  a  bless- 
ing. It  is  not  so  with  the  speculator,  by  whom  this  opera- 
tion is  better  understood,  and  is  made  to  contribute  to  his 
advantage.  It  is  not  until  the  prices  of  the  necessaries  of  life 
become  so  dear  that  the  laboring  classes  can  not  supply 
their  wants  out  of  their  wages  that  the  wages  rise,  and 
gradually  reach  a  justly  proportioned  rate  to  that  of  the 
products  of  their  labor.  When  thus,  by  the  depreciation 
in  consequence  of  the  quantity  of  paper  in  circulation,  wages 
as  well  as  prices  become  exorbitant,  it  is  soon  found  that 
the  whole  effect  of  the  adulteration  is  a  tariff  on  our  home 
industry  for  the  benefit  of  the  countries  where  gold  and 


Eighth  Annual  Message  4^9 

silver  circulate  and  maintain  uniformity  and  moderation  in 
prices.  It  is  then  perceived  that  the  enhancement  of  the 
price  of  land  and  labor  produces  a  corresponding  increase 
in  the  price  of  products  until  these  products  do  not  sustain 
a  competition  with  similar  ones  in  other  countries,  and  thus 
both  manufactured  and  agricultural  productions  cease  to 
bear  exportation  from  the  country  of  the  spurious  currency, 
because  they  can  not  be  sold  for  cost.  This  is  the  process 
by  which  specie  is  banished  by  the  paper  of  the  banks. 
Their  vaults  are  soon  exhausted  to  pay  for  foreign  com- 
modities. The  next  step  is  a  stoppage  of  specie  payment — a 
total  degradation  of  paper  as  a  currency — unusual  depres- 
sion of  prices,  the  ruin  of  debtors,  and  the  accumulation  of 
property  in  the  hands  of  creditors  and  cautious  capitalists. 

It  was  in  view  of  these  evils,  together  with  the  dangerous 
power  wielded  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  and  its 
repugnance  to  our  Constitution,  that  I  was  induced  to  exert 
the  power  conferred  upon  me  by  the  American  people  to 
prevent  the  continuance  of  that  institution.  But  although 
various  dangers  to  our  republican  institutions  have  been 
obviated  by  the  failure  of  that  bank  to  extort  from  the  Gov- 
ernment a  renewal  of  its  charter,  it  is  obvious  that  little 
has  been  accomplished  except  a  salutary  change  of  public 
opinion  toward  restoring  to  the  country  the  sound  cur- 
rency provided  for  in  the  Constitution.  In  the  acts  of 
several  of  the  States  prohibiting  the  circulation  of  small 
notes,  and  the  auxiliary  enactments  of  Congress  at  the 
last  session  forbidding  their  reception  or  payment  on  public 
account,  the  true  policy  of  the  country  has  been  advanced 
and  a  larger  portion  of  the  precious  metals  infused  into 
our  circulating  medium.  These  measures  will  probably  be 
followed  up  in  due  time  by  the  enactment  of  State  laws 
banishing  from  circulation  bank  notes  of  still  higher  de- 
nominations, and  the  object  may  be  materially  promoted 
by  further  acts  of  Congress  forbidding  the  employment 
as  fiscal  agents  of  such  banks  as  continue  to  issue  notes 
of  low  denominations  and  throw  impediments  in  the  way  of 
the  circulation  of  gold  and  silver. 


47°  Andrew  Jackson 

The  effects  of  an  extension  of  bank  credits  and  overissues 
of  bank  paper  have  been  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  sales 
of  the  public  lands.  From  the  returns  made  by  the  various 
registers  and  receivers  in  the  early  part  of  last  summer  it 
was  perceived  that  the  receipts  arising  from  the  sales  of  the 
public  lands  were  increasing  to  an  unprecedented  amount. 
In  effect,  however,  these  receipts  amounted  to  nothing  more 
than  credits  in  bank.  The  banks  lent  out  their  notes  to 
speculators.  They  were  paid  to  the  receivers  and  imme- 
diately returned  to  the  banks,  to  be  lent  out  again  and  again, 
being  mere  instruments  to  transfer  to  speculators  the  most 
valuable  public  land  and  pay  the  Government  by  a  credit  on 
the  books  of  the  banks.  Those  credits  on  the  books  of 
some  of  the  Western  banks,  usually  called  deposits,  were 
already  greatly  beyond  their  immediate  means  of  payment, 
and  were  rapidly  increasing.  Indeed,  each  speculation 
furnished  means  for  another;  for  no  sooner  had  one  indi- 
vidual or  company  paid  in  the  notes  than  they  were  imme- 
diately lent  to  another  for  a  like  purpose,  and  the  banks 
were  extending  their  business  and  their  issues  so  largely  as 
to  alarm  considerate  men  and  render  it  doubtful  whether 
these  bank  credits  if  permitted  to  accumulate  would  ulti- 
mately be  of  the  least  value  to  the  Government.  The  spirit 
of  expansion  and  speculation  was  not  confined  to  the  deposit 
banks,  but  pervaded  the  whole  multitude  of  banks  through- 
out the  Union  and  was  giving  rise  to  new  institutions  to 
aggravate  the  evil. 

The  safety  of  the  public  funds  and  the  interest  of  the 
people  generally  required  that  these  operations  should  be 
checked;  and  it  became  the  duty  of  every  branch  of  the 
General  and  State  Governments  to  adopt  all  legitimate  and 
proper  means  to  produce  that  salutary  effect.  Under  this 
view  of  my  duty  I  directed  the  issuing  of  the  order  which 
will  be  laid  before  you  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
requiring  payment  for  the  public  lands  sold  to  be  made  in 
specie,  with  an  exception  until  the  1 5th  of  the  present  month 
in  favor  of  actual  settlers.  This  measure  has  produced 
many  salutary  consequences.     It  checked  the  career  of  the 


Eighth  Annual  Message  47^ 

Western  banks  and  gave  them  additional  strength  in  antici- 
pation of  the  pressure  which  has  since  pervaded  our  Eastern 
as  well  as  the  European  commercial  cities.  By  preventing 
the  extension  of  the  credit  system  it  measurably  cut  off  the 
means  of  speculation  and  retarded  its  progress  in  monopo- 
lizing the  most  valuable  of  the  public  lands.  It  has  tended 
to  save  the  new  States  from  a  nonresident  proprietorship, 
one  of  the  greatest  obstacles  to  the  advancement  of  a  new 
country  and  the  prosperity  of  an  old  one.  It  has  tended  to 
keep  open  the  public  lands  for  entry  by  emigrants  at  Gov- 
ernment prices  instead  of  their  being  compelled  to  purchase 
of  speculators  at  double  or  triple  prices.  And  it  is  convey- 
ing into  the  interior  large  sums  in  silver  and  gold,  there  to 
enter  permanently  into  the  currency  of  the  country  and 
place  it  on  a  firmer  foundation.  It  is  confidently  believed 
that  the  country  will  find  in  the  motives  which  induced  that 
order  and  the  happy  consequences  which  will  have  ensued 
much  to  commend  and  nothing  to  condemn. 

It  remains  for  Congress  if  they  approve  the  policy  which 
dictated  this  order  to  follow  it  up  in  its  various  bearings. 
Much  good,  in  my  judgment,  would  be  produced  by  pro- 
hibiting sales  of  the  public  lands  except  to  actual  settlers  at 
a  reasonable  reduction  of  price,  and  to  limit  the  quantity 
which  shall  be  sold  to  them.  Although  it  is  believed  the 
General  Government  never  ought  to  receive  anything  but 
the  constitutional  currency  in  exchange  for  the  public  lands, 
that  point  would  be  of  less  importance  if  the  lands  were  sold 
for  immediate  settlement  and  cultivation.  Indeed,  there 
is  scarcely  a  mischief  arising  out  of  our  present  land  system, 
including  the  accumulating  surplus  of  revenues,  which 
would  not  be  remedied  at  once  by  a  restriction  on  land 
sales  to  actual  settlers ;  and  it  promises  other  advantages  to 
the  country  in  general  and  to  the  new  States  in  particular 
which  can  not  fail  to  receive  the  most  profound  considera- 
tion of  Congress. 

Experience  continues  to  realize  the  expectations  enter- 
tained as  to  the  capacity  of  the  State  banks  to  perform  the 
duties  of  fiscal  agents  for  the  Government  at  the  time  of  the 


47^  Andrew  Jackson 

removal  of  the  deposits.  It  was  alleged  by  the  advocates 
of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  that  the  State  banks,  what- 
ever might  be  the  regulations  of  the  Treasury  Department, 
could  not  make  the  transfers  required  by  the  Government 
or  negotiate  the  domestic  exchanges  of  the  country.  It  is 
now  well  ascertained  that  the  real  domestic  exchanges  per- 
formed through  discounts  by  the  United  States  Bank  and 
its  twenty-five  branches  were  at  least  one-third  less  than 
those  of  the  deposit  banks  for  an  equal  period  of  time ;  and 
if  a  comparison  be  instituted  between  the  amounts  of  serv- 
ice rendered  by  these  institutions  on  the  broader  basis  which 
has  been  used  by  the  advocates  of  the  United  States  Bank 
in  estimating  what  they  consider  the  domestic  exchanges 
transacted  by  it,  the  result  will  be  still  more  favorable  to 
the  deposit  banks. 

The  whole  amount  of  public  money  transferred  by  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  in  1832  was  $16,000,000.  The 
amount  transferred  and  actually  paid  by  the  deposit  banks 
in  the  year  ending  the  ist  of  October  last  was  $39,319,899; 
the  amount  transferred  and  paid  between  that  period  and 
the  6th  of  November  was  $5,399,000,  and  the  amount  of 
transfer  warrants  outstanding  on  that  day  was  $14,450,000, 
making  an  aggregate  of  $59,168,894.  These  enormous 
sums  of  money  first  mentioned  have  been  transferred  with 
the  greatest  promptitude  and  regularity,  and  the  rates  at 
which  the  exchanges  have  been  negotiated  previously  to 
the  passage  of  the  deposit  act  were  generally  below  those 
charged  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  Independently 
of  these  services,  which  are  far  greater  than  those  ren- 
dered by  the  United  States  Bank  and  its  twenty-five 
branches,  a  number  of  the  deposit  banks  have,  with  a  com- 
mendable zeal  to  aid  in  the  improvement  of  the  currency, 
imported  from  abroad,  at  their  own  expense,  large  sums 
of  the  precious  metals  for  coinage  and  circulation. 

In  the  same  manner  have  nearly  all  the  predictions  turned 
out  in  respect  to  the  effect  of  the  removal  of  the  deposits — 
a  step  unquestionably  necessary  to  prevent  the  evils  which  it 
was  foreseen  the  bank  itself  would  endeavor  to  create  in  a 


Eighth   Annual  Message  473 

final  struggle  to  procure  a  renewal  of  its  charter.  It  may  be 
thus,  too,  in  some  degree  with  the  further  steps  which  may 
be  taken  to  prevent  the  excessive  issue  of  other  bank  paper, 
but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  nothing  will  now  deter  the  Fed- 
eral and  State  authorities  from  the  firm  and  vigorous  per- 
formance of  their  duties  to  themselves  and  to  the  people 
in  this  respect. 

In  reducing  the  revenue  to  the  wants  of  the  Government 
your  particular  attention  is  invited  to  those  articles  which 
constitute  the  necessaries  of  life.  The  duty  on  salt  was 
laid  as  a  war  tax,  and  was  no  doubt  continued  to  assist  in 
providing  for  the  payment  of  the  war  debt.  There  is  no 
article  the  release  of  which  from  taxation  would  be  felt  so 
generally  and  so  beneficially.  To  this  may  be  added  all 
kinds  of  fuel  and  provisions.  Justice  and  benevolence 
unite  in  favor  of  releasing  the  poor  of  our  cities  from  bur- 
dens which  are  not  necessary  to  the  support  of  our  Gov- 
ernment and  tend  only  to  increase  the  wants  of  the  destitute. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  and  the  accompanying  documents  that  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  has  made  no  payment  on  account  of 
the  stock  held  by  the  Government  in  that  institution,  al- 
though urged  to  pay  any  portion  which  might  suit  its  con- 
venience, and  that  it  has  given  no  information  when  pay- 
ment may  be  expected.  Nor,  although  repeatedly  requested, 
has  it  furnished  the  information  in  relation  to  its  condition 
which  Congress  authorized  the  Secretary  to  collect  at  their 
last  session.  Such  measures  as  are  within  the  power  of 
the  Executive  have  been  taken  to  ascertain  the  value  of  the 
stock  and  procure  the  payment  as  early  as  possible. 

The  conduct  and  present  condition  of  that  bank  and  the 
great  amount  of  capital  vested  in  it  by  the  United  States 
require  your  careful  attention.  Its  charter  expired  on  the 
3d  day  of  March  last,  and  it  has  now  no  power  but  that 
given  in  the  twenty-first  section,  "  to  use  the  corporate 
name,  style,  and  capacity  for  the  purpose  of  suits  for  the 
final  settlement  and  liquidation  of  the  affairs  and  accounts 
of  the  corporation,  and  for  the  sale  and  disposition  of  their 


474  Andrew  Jackson 

estate — real,  personal,  and  mixed — but  not  for  any  other 
purpose  or  in  any  other  manner  whatsoever,  nor  for  a 
period  exceeding  two  years  after  the  expiration  of  the  said 
term  of  incorporation."  Before  the  expiration  of  the  char- 
ter the  stockholders  of  the  bank  obtained  an  act  of  incor- 
poration from  the  legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  excluding 
only  the  United  States.  Instead  of  proceeding  to  wind  up 
their  concerns  and  pay  over  to  the  United  States  the  amount 
due  on  account  of  the  stock  held  by  them,  the  president  and 
directors  of  the  old  bank  appear  to  have  transferred  the 
books,  papers,  notes,  obligations,  and  most  or  all  of  its 
property  to  this  new  corporation,  which  entered  upon  busi- 
ness as  a  continuation  of  the  old  concern.  Amongst  other 
acts  of  questionable  validity,  the  notes  of  the  expired  cor- 
poration are  known  to  have  been  used  as  its  own  and  again 
put  in  circulation.  That  the  old  bank  had  no  right  to  issue 
or  reissue  its  notes  after  the  expiration  of  its  charter  can 
not  be  denied,  and  that  it  could  not  confer  any  such  right 
on  its  substitute  any  more  than  exercise  it  itself  is  equally 
plain.  In  law  and  honesty  the  notes  of  the  bank  in  circula- 
tion at  the  expiration  of  its  charter  should  have  been  called 
in  by  public  advertisement,  paid  up  as  presented,  and,  to- 
gether with  those  on  hand,  cancelled  and  destroyed.  Their 
reissue  is  sanctioned  by  no  law  and  warranted  by  no  neces- 
sity. If  the  United  States  be  responsible  in  their  stock  for 
the  payment  of  these  notes,  their  reissue  by  the  new  cor- 
poration for  their  own  profit  is  a  fraud  on  the  Government. 
If  the  United  States  is  not  responsible,  then  there  is  no 
legal  responsibility  in  any  quarter,  and  it  is  a  fraud  on  the 
country.  They  are  the  redeemed  notes  of  a  dissolved  part- 
nership, but,  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the  retiring  partner 
and  without  his  consent,  are  again  reissued  and  circulated. 

It  is  the  high  and  peculiar  duty  of  Congress  to  decide 
whether  any  further  legislation  be  necessary  for  the  se- 
curity of  the  large  amount  of  public  property  now  held 
and  in  use  by  the  new  bank,  and  for  vindicating  the  rights 
of  the  Government  and  compelling  a  speedy  and  honest  set- 
tlement with  all  the  creditors  of  the  old  bank,  public  and 


Eighth  Annual  Message  475 

private,  or  whether  the  subject  shall  be  left  to  the  power 
now  possessed  by  the  Executive  and  judiciary.  It  remains 
to  be  seen  whether  the  persons  who  as  managers  of  the  old 
bank  undertook  to  control  the  Government,  retained  the 
public  dividends,  shut  their  doors  upon  a  committee  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  filled  the  country  with  panic 
to  accomplish  their  own  sinister  objects  may  now  as  man- 
agers of  a  new  bank  continue  with  impunity  to  flood  the 
country  with  a  spurious  currency,  use  the  seven  millions  of 
Government  stock  for  their  own  profit,  and  refuse  to  the 
United  States  all  information  as  to  the  present  condition  of 
their  own  property  and  the  prospect  of  recovering  it  into 
their  own  possession. 

The  lessons  taught  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
can  not  well  be  lost  upon  the  American  people.  They  will 
take  care  never  again  to  place  so  tremendous  a  power  in 
irresponsible  hands,  and  it  will  be  fortunate  if  they  seriously 
consider  the  consequences  which  are  likely  to  result  on  a 
smaller  scale  from  the  facility  with  which  corporate  powers 
are  granted  by  their  State  governments. 

It  is  believed  that  the  law  of  the  last  session  regulating 
the  deposit  banks  operates  onerously  and  unjustly  upon 
them  in  many  respects,  and  it  is  hoped  that  Congress,  on 
proper  representations,  will  adopt  the  modifications  which 
are  necessary  to  prevent  this  consequence. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  ad  interim  and  the 
accompanying  documents,  all  which  are  herewith  laid  be- 
fore you,  will  give  you  a  full  view  of  the  diversified  and 
important  operations  of  that  Department  during  the  past 
year. 

The  military  movements  rendered  necessary  by  the  ag- 
gressions of  the  hostile  portions  of  the  Seminole  and  Creek 
tribes  of  Indians,  and  by  other  circumstances,  have  required 
the  active  employment  of  nearly  our  whole  regular  force, 
including  the  Marine  Corps,  and  of  large  bodies  of  militia 
and  volunteers.  With  all  these  events  so  far  as  they  were 
known  at  the  seat  of  Government  before  the  termination  of 
your  last  session  you  are  already  acquainted,  and  it  is  there- 


47^  Andrew  Jackson 

fore  only  needful  in  this  place  to  lay  before  you  a  brief 
summary  of  what  has  since  occurred. 

The  war  with  the  Seminoles  during  the  summer  was  on 
our  part  chiefly  confined  to  the  protection  of  our  frontier 
settlements  from  the  incursions  of  the  enemy,  and,  as  a 
necessary  and  important  means  for  the  accomplishment  of 
that  end,  to  the  maintenance  of  the  posts  previously  estab- 
lished. In  the  course  of  this  duty  several  actions  took  place, 
in  which  the  bravery  and  discipline  of  both  officers  and  men 
were  conspicuously  displayed,  and  which  I  have  deemed  it 
proper  to  notice  in  respect  to  the  former  by  the  granting  of 
brevet  rank  for  gallant  services  in  the  field.  But  as  the 
force  of  the  Indians  was  not  so  far  weakened  by  these  par- 
tial successes  as  to  lead  them  to  submit,  and  as  their  savage 
inroads  were  frequently  repeated,  early  measures  were  taken 
for  placing  at  the  disposal  of  Governor  Call,  who  as  com- 
mander in  chief  of  the  Territorial  militia  had  been  tempo- 
rarily invested  with  the  command,  an  ample  force  for  the 
purpose  of  resuming  offensive  operations  in  the  most  effi- 
cient manner  so  soon  as  the  season  should  permit.  Major- 
General  Jesup  was  also  directed,  on  the  conclusion  of  his 
duties  in  the  Creek  country,  to  repair  to  Florida  and  assume 
the  command. 

The  result  of  the  first  movement  made  by  the  forces 
under  the  direction  of  Governor  Call  in  October  last,  as 
detailed  in  the  accompanying  papers,  excited  much  surprise 
and  disappointment.  A  full  explanation  has  been  required 
of  the  causes  which  led  to  the  failure  of  that  movement,  but 
has  not  yet  been  received.  In  the  meantime,  as  it  was 
feared  that  the  health  of  Governor  Call,  who  was  under- 
stood to  have  suffered  much  from  sickness,  might  not  be 
adequate  to  the  crisis,  and  as  Major-General  Jesup  was 
known  to  have  reached  Florida,  that  officer  was  directed 
to  assume  the  command,  and  to  prosecute  all  needful  opera- 
tions with  the  utmost  promptitude  and  vigor.  From  the 
force  at  his  disposal  and  the  dispositions  he  has  made  and 
is  instructed  to  make,  and  from  the  very  efficient  measures 
which  it  is  since  ascertained  have  been  taken  by  Govesrnor 


Eighth  Annual  Message  477 

Call,  there  is  reason  to  hope  that  they  will  soon  be  enabled 
to  reduce  the  enemy  to  subjection.  In  the  meantime,  as 
you  will  perceive  from  the  report  of  the  Secretary,  there 
is  urgent  necessity  for  further  appropriations  to  suppress 
these  hostilities. 

Happily  for  the  interests  of  humanity,  the  hostilities  with 
the  Creeks  were  brought  to  a  close  soon  after  your  ad- 
journment, without  that  effusion  of  blood  which  at  one 
time  was  apprehended  as  inevitable.  The  unconditional 
submission  of  the  hostile  party  was  followed  by  their  speedy 
removal  to  the  country  assigned  them  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. The  inquiry  as  to  alleged  frauds  in  the  purchase  of 
the  reservations  of  these  Indians  and  the  causes  of  their 
hostilities,  requested  by  the  resolution  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  ist  of  July  last  to  be  made  by  the 
President,  is  now  going  on  through  the  agency  of  com- 
missioners appointed  for  that  purpose.  Their  report  may 
be  expected  during  your  present  session. 

The  difficulties  apprehended  in  the  Cherokee  country 
have  been  prevented,  and  the  peace  and  safety  of  that  re- 
gion and  its  vicinity  effectually  secured,  by  the  timely  meas- 
ures taken  by  the  War  Department,  and  still  continued. 

The  discretionary  authority  given  to  General  Gaines  to 
cross  the  Sabine  and  to  occupy  a  position  as  far  west  as 
Nacogdoches,  in  case  he  should  deem  such  a  step  necessary 
to  the  protection  of  the  frontier  and  to  the  fulfillment  of  the 
stipulations  contained  in  our  treaty  with  Mexico,  and  the 
movement  subsequently  made  by  that  officer  have  been 
alluded  to  in  a  former  part  of  this  message.  At  the  date  of 
the  latest  intelligence  from  Nacogdoches  our  troops  were 
yet  at  that  station,  but  the  officer  who  has  succeeded  General 
Gaines  has  recently  been  advised  that  from  the  facts  known 
at  the  seat  of  Government  there  would  seem  to  be  no  ade- 
quate cause  for  any  longer  maintaining  that  position,  and 
he  was  accordingly  Instructed,  in  case  the  troops  were  not 
already  withdrawn  under  the  discretionary  powers  before 
possessed  by  him,  to  give  the  requisite  orders  for  that  pur- 
pose on  the  receipt  of  the  instructions,  unless  he  shall  then 


47^  Andrew  Jackson 

have  in  his  possession  such  information  as  shall  satisfy  him 
that  the  maintenance  of  the  post  is  essential  to  the  protection 
of  our  frontiers  and  to  the  due  execution  of  our  treaty 
stipulations,  as  previously  explained  to  him. 

Whilst  the  necessities  existing  during  the  present  year 
for  the  service  of  militia  and  volunteers  have  furnished  new 
proofs  of  the  patriotism  of  our  fellow-citizens,  they  have 
also  strongly  illustrated  the  importance  of  an  increase  in  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  Regular  Army.  The  views  of  this 
subject  submitted  by  the  Secretary  of  War  in  his  report 
meet  my  entire  concurrence,  and  are  earnestly  commended 
to  the  deliberate  attention  of  Congress.  In  this  connection 
it  is  also  proper  to  remind  you  that  the  defects  in  our  present 
militia  system  are  every  day  rendered  more  apparent.  The 
duty  of  making  further  provision  by  law  for  organizing, 
arming,  and  disciplining  this  arm  of  defense  has  been  so 
repeatedly  presented  to  Congress  by  myself  and  my  prede- 
cessors that  I  deem  it  sufficient  on  this  occasion  to  refer  to 
the  last  annual  message  and  to  former  Executive  communi- 
cations in  which  the  subject  has  been  discussed. 

It  appears  from  the  reports  of  the  officers  charged  with 
mustering  into  service  the  volunteers  called  for  under  the 
act  of  Congress  of  the  last  session  that  more  presented, 
themselves  at  the  place  of  rendezvous  in  Tennessee  than 
were  sufficient  to  meet  the  requisition  which  had  been  made 
by  the  Secretary  of  War  upon  the  governor  of  that  State. 
This  was  occasioned  by  the  omission  of  the  governor  to 
apportion  the  requisition  to  the  different  regiments  of 
militia  so  as  to  obtain  the  proper  number  of  troops  and  no 
more.  It  seems  but  just  to  the  patriotic  citizens  who  re- 
paired to  the  general  rendezvous  under  circumstances  au- 
thorizing them  to  believe  that  their  services  were  needed  and 
would  be  accepted  that  the  expenses  incurred  by  them  while 
absent  from  their  homes  should  be  paid  by  the  Government. 
I  accordingly  recommend  that  a  law  to  this  effect  be  passed 
by  Congress,  giving  them  a  compensation  which  will  cover 
their  expenses  on  the  march  to  and  from  the  place  of  ren- 
dezvous and  while  there;  in  connection  with  which  it  will 


Eighth  Annual  Message  479 

also  be  proper  to  make  provision  for  such  other  equitable 
claims  growing  out  of  the  service  of  the  militia  as  may 
not  be  embraced  in  the  existing  laws. 

On  the  unexpected  breaking  out  of  hostilities  in  Florida, 
Alabama,  and  Georgia  it  became  necessary  in  some  cases 
to  take  the  property  of  individuals  for  public  use.  Pro- 
vision should  be  made  by  law  for  indemnifying  the  owners ; 
and  I  would  also  respectfully  suggest  whether  some  pro- 
vision may  not  be  made,  consistently  with  the  principles  of 
our  Government,  for  the  relief  of  the  sufferers  by  Indian 
depredations  or  by  the  operations  of  our  own  troops. 

No  time  was  lost  after  the  making  of  the  requisite  appro- 
priations in  resuming  the  great  national  work  of  completing 
the  unfinished  fortifications  on  our  seaboard  and  of  placing 
them  in  a  proper  state  of  defense.  In  consequence,  however, 
of  the  very  late  day  at  which  those  bills  were  passed,  but  lit- 
tle progress  could  be  made  during  the  season  which  has  just 
closed.  A  very  large  amount  of  the  moneys  granted  at 
your  last  session  accordingly  remains  unexpended;  but  as 
the  work  will  be  again  resumed  at  the  earliest  moment  in 
the  coming  spring,  the  balance  of  the  existing  appropria- 
tions, and  in  several  cases  which  will  be  laid  before  you, 
with  the  proper  estimates,  further  sums  for  the  like  objects, 
may  be  usefully  expended  during  the  next  year. 

The  recommendations  of  an  increase  in  the  Engineer 
Corps  and  for  a  reorganization  of  the  Topographical  Corps, 
submitted  to  you  in  my  last  annual  message,  derive  addi- 
tional strength  from  the  great  embarrassments  experienced 
during  the  present  year  in  those  branches  of  the  service, 
and  under  which  they  are  now  suffering.  Several  of  the 
most  important  surveys  and  constructions  directed  by  recent 
laws  have  been  suspended  in  consequence  of  the  want  of 
adequate  force  in  these  corps. 

The  like  observations  may  be  applied  to  the  Ordnance 
Corps  and  to  the  general  staff,  the  operations  of  which 
as  they  are  now  organized  must  either  be  frequently  inter- 
rupted or  performed  by  officers  taken  from  the  line  of  the 
Army,  to  the  great  prejudice  of  the  service. 


4^0  Andrew  Jackson 

For  a  general  view  of  the  condition  of  the  MiHtary  Acad- 
emy and  of  other  branches  of  the  mihtary  service  not  al- 
ready noticed,  as  well  as  for  fuller  illustrations  of  those 
which  have  been  mentioned,  I  refer  you  to  the  accompany- 
ing documents,  and  among  the  various  proposals  contained 
therein  for  legislative  action  I  would  particularly  notice  the 
suggestion  of  the  Secretary  of  War  for  the  revision  of  the 
pay  of  the  Army  as  entitled  to  your  favorable  regard. 

The  national  policy,  founded  alike  in  interest  and  in  hu- 
manity, so  long  and  so  steadily  pursued  by  this  Government 
for  the  removal  of  the  Indian  tribes  originally  settled  on 
this  side  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  west  of  that  river,  may  be 
said  to  have  been  consummated  by  the  conclusion  of  the 
late  treaty  with  the  Cherokees.  The  measures  taken  in  the 
execution  of  that  treaty  and  in  relation  to  our  Indian  affairs 
generally  will  fully  appear  by  referring  to  the  accompany- 
ing papers.  Without  dwelling  on  the  numerous  and  impor- 
tant topics  embraced  in  them,  I  again  invite  your  attention 
to  the  importance  of  providing  a  well-digested  and  compre- 
hensive system  for  the  protection,  supervision,  and  im- 
provement of  the  various  tribes  now  planted  in  the  Indian 
country.  The  suggestions  submitted  by  the  Commissioner 
of  Indian  Affairs,  and  enforced  by  the  Secretary,  on  this 
subject,  and  also  in  regard  to  the  establishment  of  addi- 
tional military  posts  in  the  Indian  country,  are  entitled  to 
your  profound  consideration.  Both  measures  are  neces- 
sary, for  the  double  purpose  of  protecting  the  Indians  from 
intestine  war,  and  in  other  respects  complying  with  our 
engagements  to  them,  and  of  securing  our  western  frontier 
against  incursions  which  otherwise  will  assuredly  be  made 
on  it.  The  best  hopes  of  humanity  in  regard  to  the  aborig- 
inal race,  the  welfare  of  our  rapidly  extending  settlements, 
and  the  honor  of  the  United  States  are  all  deeply  involved 
in  the  relations  existing  between  this  Government  and  the 
emigrating  tribes.  I  trust,  therefore,  that  the  various  mat- 
ters submitted  in  the  accompanying  documents  in  respect  to 
those  relations  will  receive  your  early  and  mature  delibera- 
tion, and  that  it  may  issue  in  the  adoption  of  legislative 


Eighth  Annual  Message  481 

measures  adapted  to  the  circumstances  and  duties  of  the 
present  crisis. 

You  are  referred  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  for  a  satisfactory  view  of  the  operations  of  the  De- 
partment under  his  charge  during  the  present  year.  In  the 
construction  of  vessels  at  the  different  navy-yards  and  in 
the  employment  of  our  ships  and  squadrons  at  sea  that 
branch  of  the  service  has  been  actively  and  usefully  em- 
ployed. While  the  situation  of  our  commercial  interests 
in  the  West  Indies  required  a  greater  number  than  usual 
of  armed  vessels  to  be  kept  on  that  station,  it  is  gratifying 
to  perceive  that  the  protection  due  to  our  commerce  in  other 
quarters  of  the  world  has  not  proved  insufficient.  Every 
effort  has  been  made  to  facilitate  the  equipment  of  the  ex- 
ploring expedition  authorized  by  the  act  of  the  last  session, 
but  all  the  preparation  necessary  to  enable  it  to  sail  has  not 
yet  been  completed.  No  means  will  be  spared  by  the  Gov- 
ernment to  fit  out  the  expedition  on  a  scale  corresponding 
with  the  liberal  appropriations  for  the  purpose  and  with 
the  elevated  character  of  the  objects  which  are  to  be  ef- 
fected by  it. 

I  beg  leave  to  renew  the  recommendation  made  in  my  last 
annual  message  respecting  the  enlistment  of  boys  in  our 
naval  service,  and  to  urge  upon  your  attention  the  necessity 
of  further  appropriations  to  increase  the  number  of  ships 
afloat  and  to  enlarge  generally  the  capacity  and  force  of  the 
Navy.  The  increase  of  our  commerce  and  our  position  in  re- 
gard to  the  other  powers  of  the  world  will  always  make  it 
our  policy  and  interest  to  cherish  the  great  naval  resources  of 
our  country. 

The  report  of  the  Postmaster-General  presents  a  grati- 
fying picture  of  the  condition  of  the  Post-Office  Depart- 
ment. Its  revenues  for  the  year  ending  the  30th  June  last 
were  $3,398,455.19,  showing  an  increase  of  revenue  over 
that  of  the  preceding  year  of  $404,878.53,  or  more  than 
13  per  cent.  The  expenditures  for  the  same  year  were 
$2,755,623.76,  exhibiting  a  surplus  of  $642,831.43.  The 
Department  has  been  redeemed  from  embarrassment  and 


4^2  Andrew  Jackson 

debt,  has  accumulated  a  surplus  exceeding  half  a  million 
of  dollars,  has  largely  extended  and  is  preparing  still  fur- 
ther to  extend  the  mail  service,  and  recommends  a  reduc- 
tion of  postages  equal  to  about  20  per  cent.  It  is  practicing 
upon  the  great  principle  which  should  control  every  branch 
of  our  Government  of  rendering  to  the  public  the  greatest 
good  possible  with  the  least  possible  taxation  to  the  people. 

The  scale  of  postages  suggested  by  the  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral recommends  itself,  not  only  by  the  reduction  it  pro- 
poses, but  by  the  simplicity  of  its  arrangement,  its  con- 
formity with  the  Federal  currency,  and  the  improvement  it 
will  introduce  into  the  accounts  of  the  Department  and  its 
agents. 

Your  particular  attention  is  invited  to  the  subject  of  mail 
contracts  with  railroad  companies.  The  present  laws  pro- 
viding for  the  making  of  contracts  are  based  upon  the  pre- 
sumption that  competition  among  bidders  will  secure  the 
service  at  a  fair  price;  but  on  most  of  the  railroad  lines 
there  is  no  competition  in  that  kind  of  transportation,  and 
advertising  is  therefore  useless.  No  contract  can  now  be 
made  with  them  except  such  as  shall  be  negotiated  before 
the  time  of  offering  or  afterwards,  and  the  power  of  the 
Postmaster-General  to  pay  them  high  prices  is  practically 
without  limitation.  It  would  be  a  relief  to  him  and  no 
doubt  would  conduce  to  the  public  interest  to  prescribe  by 
law  some  equitable  basis  upon  which  such  contracts  shall 
rest,  and  restrict  him  by  a  fixed  rule  of  allowance.  Under 
a  liberal  act  of  that  sort  he  would  undoubtedly  be  able  to 
secure  the  services  of  most  of  the  railroad  companies,  and 
the  interest  of  the  Department  would  be  thus  advanced. 

The  correspondence  between  the  people  of  the  United 
States  and  the  European  nations,  and  particularly  with  the 
British  islands,  has  become  very  extensive,  and  requires  the 
interposition  of  Congress  to  give  it  security.  No  obstacle 
is  perceived  to  an  interchange  of  mails  between  New  York 
and  Liverpool  or  other  foreign  ports,  as  proposed  by  the 
Postmaster-General.  On  the  contrary,  it  promises,  by  the 
security  it  will  afford,  to  facilitate  commercial  transactions 


Eighth  Annual  Message  4^3 

and  give  rise  to  an  enlarged  intercourse  among  the  people 
of  different  nations,  which  can  not  but  have  a  happy  effect. 
Through  the  city  of  New  York  most  of  the  correspondence 
between  the  Canadas  and  Europe  is  now  carried  on,  and 
urgent  representations  have  been  received  from  the  head 
of  the  provincial  post-office  asking  the  interposition  of  the 
United  States  to  guard  it  from  the  accidents  and  losses  to 
which  it  is  now  subjected.  Some  legislation  appears  to  be 
called  for  as  well  by  our  own  interest  as  by  comity  to  the 
adjoining  British  provinces. 

The  expediency  of  providing  a  fireproof  building  for 
the  important  books  and  papers  of  the  Post-Office  Depart- 
ment is  worthy  of  consideration.  In  the  present  condition 
of  our  Treasury  it  is  neither  necessary  nor  wise  to  leave 
essential  public  interests  exposed  to  so  much  danger  when 
they  can  so  readily  be  made  secure.  There  are  weighty 
considerations  in  the  location  of  a  new  building  for  that 
Department  in  favor  of  placing  it  near  the  other  executive 
buildings. 

The  important  subjects  of  a  survey  of  the  coast  and  the 
manufacture  of  a  standard  of  weights  and  measures  for  the 
different  customhouses  have  been  in  progress  for  some  years 
under  the  general  direction  of  the  Executive  and  the  imme- 
diate superintendence  of  a  gentleman  possessing  high  scien- 
tific attainments.  At  the  last  session  of  Congress  the  mak- 
ing of  a  set  of  weights  and  measures  for  each  State  in  the 
Union  was  added  to  the  others  by  a  joint  resolution. 

The  care  and  correspondence  as  to  all  these  subjects  have 
been  devolved  on  the  Treasury  Department  during  the  last 
year.  A  special  report  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
will  soon  be  communicated  to  Congress,  which  will  show 
what  has  been  accomplished  as  to  the  whole,  the  number 
and  compensation  of  the  persons  now  employed  in  these 
duties,  and  the  progress  expected  to  be  made  during  the 
ensuing  year,  with  a  copy  of  the  various  correspondence 
deemed  necessary  to  throw  light  on  the  subjects  which  seem 
to  require  additional  legislation.  Claims  have  been  made 
for  retrospective  allowances  in  behalf  of  the  superintendent 


4^4  Andrew  Jackson 

and  some  of  his  assistants,  which  I  did  not  feel  justified 
in  granting.  Other  claims  have  been  made  for  large  in- 
creases in  compensation,  which,  under  all  the  circumstances 
of  the  several  cases,  I  declined  making  without  the  express 
sanction  of  Congress.  In  order  to  obtain  that  sanction  the 
subject  was  at  the  last  session,  on  my  suggestion  and  by 
request  of  the  immediate  superintendent,  submitted  by  the 
Treasury  Department  to  the  Committee  on  Commerce  of 
the  House  of  Representatives.  But  no  legislative  action 
having  taken  place,  the  early  attention  of  Congress  is  now 
invited  to  the  enactment  of  some  express  and  detailed  pro- 
visions in  relation  to  the  various  claims  made  for  the  past, 
and  to  the  compensation  and  allowances  deemed  proper  for 
the  future. 

It  is  further  respectfully  recommended  that,  such  being 
the  inconvenience  of  attention  to  these  duties  by  the  Chief 
Magistrate,  and  such  the  great  pressure  of  business  on  the 
Treasury  Department,  the  general  supervision  of  the  coast 
survey  and  the  completion  of  the  weights  and  measures,  if 
the  works  are  kept  united,  should  be  devolved  on  a  board 
of  officers  organized  specially  for  that  purpose,  or  on  the 
Navy  Board  attached  to  the  Navy  Department. 

All  my  experience  and  reflection  confirm  the  conviction 
I  have  so  often  expressed  to  Congress  in  favor  of  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  which  will  prevent  in  any 
event  the  election  of  the  President  and  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States  devolving  on  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives and  the  Senate,  and  I  therefore  beg  leave  again  to 
solicit  your  attention  to  the  subject.  There  were  various 
other  suggestions  in  my  last  annual  message  not  acted 
upon,  particularly  that  relating  to  the  want  of  uniformity 
in  the  laws  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  that  are  deemed 
worthy  of  your  favorable  consideration. 

Before  concluding  this  paper  I  think  it  due  to  the  various 
Executive  Departments  to  bear  testimony  to  their  pros- 
perous condition  and  to  the  ability  and  integrity  with  which 
they  have  been  conducted.  It  has  been  my  aim  to  enforce 
in  all  of  them  a  vigilant  and  faithful  discharge  of  the  public 


Eighth  Annual   Message  4^5 

business,  and  it  is  gratifying  to  me  to  believe  that  there  is 
no  just  cause  of  complaint  from  any  quarter  at  the  manner 
in  which  they  have  fulfilled  the  objects  of  their  creation. 

Having  now  finished  the  observations  deemed  proper  on 
this  the  last  occasion  I  shall  have  of  communicating  with 
the  two  Houses  of  Congress  at  their  meeting,  I  can  not 
omit  an  expression  of  the  gratitude  which  is  due  to  the 
great  body  of  my  fellow-citizens,  in  whose  partiality  and 
indulgence  I  have  found  encouragement  and  support  in  the 
many  difficult  and  trying  scenes  through  which  it  has  been 
my  lot  to  pass  during  my  public  career.  Though  deeply 
sensible  that  my  exertions  have  not  been  crowned  with  a 
success  corresponding  to  the  degree  of  favor  bestowed 
upon  me,  I  am  sure  that  they  will  be  considered  as  having 
been  directed  by  an  earnest  desire  to  promote  the  good 
of  my  country,  and  I  am  consoled  by  the  persuasion  that 
whatever  errors  have  been  committed  will  find  a  corrective 
in  the  intelligence  and  patriotism  of  those  who  will  succeed 
us.  All  that  has  occurred  during  my  Administration  is 
calculated  to  inspire  me  with  increased  confidence  in  the 
stability  of  our  institutions ;  and  should  I  be  spared  to  enter 
upon  that  retirement  which  is  so  suitable  to  my  age  and 
infirm  health  and  so  much  desired  by  me  in  other  respects, 
I  shall  not  cease  to  invoke  that  beneficent  Being  to  whose 
providence  we  are  already  so  signally  indebted  for  the 
continuance  of  His  blessings  on  our  beloved  country. 


486 


Andrew  Jackson 


A. — Statement  of  distribution  of  surplus  revenue  of  $jo, 000,000  among 
the  several  States,  agreeably  to  the  number  of  electoral  votes  for  Presi- 
dent and  according  to  the  constitutional  mode  of  direct  taxation  by 
representative  population,  and  the  difference  arising  from  those  two 
modes  of  distribution,  as  per  census  of  1830: 


Statk. 

Representa- 
tive 
population. 

Elec- 
toral 
vote. 

Share  ac- 
cording to 
system  of 
direct  taxa- 
tion. 

Share  ac- 
cording to 
electoral 
vote. 

DifFerence 

in  favor  of 

direct-tax 

mode. 

Difference 
in  favor  of 
electoral- 
vote  mode. 

399,454 
269,327 
610,408 
97,192 
297,665 
280,652 

1,918,578 
319,921 

1,348,072 

75,431 
405,842 
1,023,502 
639,747 
455,025 
429,811 
262,507 
110,357 
171,904 
625,263 
621,832 
937,901 
343,030 
157,146 
130,419 
28,557 
31,625 

10 
7 

14 
4 
8 

7 
42 

8 
30 

3 
10 

23 

15 

II 

II 

7 

4 

5 

15 

15 

21 

9 

5 
4 
3 
3 

$999,371 

673,813 

1,527,144 

243,159 

744,7" 

702,147 
4,799,978 

800,392 

3,372,662 

188,716 

1,015,352 

2,560,640 
1,600,546 
1,138,400 

1,075,319 
656,751 

276,096 

430,076 

1,564,309 

1,555,725 

2,346,479 

858,206 

393,154 
326,288 

71,445 

79,121 

$1,020,408 

714,286 

1,428,571 

408,163 

816,327 

714,286 

4,285,714 

816,427 

3,061,225 

306,122 

1,020,408 

2,346,939 

1,530,612 

1,122,449 

1,122,449 

714,286 

408,163 

510,204 

1,530,612 

1,530,612 

2,142,858 

918,368 

510,204 

408,163 

306,122 

306,102 

$21,037 
40,473 

New  Hampshire.  .  . 

$98,573 

165,004 
71,616 
12,139 

514,264 

New  Jersey 

Pennsylvania 

15,935 

3",437 

117,406 
5,056 

213,701 
69,934 
15,951 

47,130 

57,535 

132,067 

80,128 

Mississippi 

33,697 

25,113 

203,621 

Ohio 

60,162 

Illinois  ... 

117,050 
81,875 

234,677 
227,001 

Total 

11,991,168 

294 

30,000,000 

30,000,000 

1,486,291 

1,486,291 

Message  on  Texas  and  Mexico.* 

(December  21,   1836.) 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States:  During  the  last  session  information  was 
given  to  Congress  by  the  Executive  that  measures  had  been 
taken  to  ascertain  "the  poHtical,  mihtary,  and  civil  condi- 
tion of  Texas."  I  now  submit  for  your  consideration  ex- 
tracts from  the  report  of  the  agent  who  had  been  appointed 
to  collect  it  relative  to  the  condition  of  that  country. 

No  steps  have  been  taken  by  the  Executive  toward  the 
acknowledgment  of  the  independence  of  Texas,  and  the 
whole  subject  would  have  been  left  without  further  re- 
mark on  the  information  now  given  to  Congress  were  it 
not  that  the  two  Houses  at  their  last  session,  acting  sepa- 
rately, passed  resolutions  "  that  the  independence  of  Texas 
ought  to  be  acknowledged  by  the  United  States  whenever 
satisfactory  information  should  be  received  that  it  had  in 
successful  operation  a  civil  government  capable  of  perform- 
ing the  duties  and  fulfilling  the  obligations  of  an  inde- 
pendent power."  This  mark  of  interest  in  the  question  of 
the  independence  of  Texas  and  indication  of  the  views  of 
Congress  make  it  proper  that  I  should  somewhat  in  detail 
present  the  considerations  that  have  governed  the  Execu- 
tive in  continuing  to  occupy  the  ground  previously  taken 
in  the  contest  between  Mexico  and  Texas. 

The  acknowledgment  of  a  new  state  as  independent  and 
entitled  to  a  place  in  the  family  of  nations  is  at  all  times  an 
act  of  great  delicacy  and  responsibility,  but  more  especially 
so  when  such  state  has  forcibly  separated  itself  from  another 
of  which  it  had  formed  an  integral  part  and  which  still 

*  Interesting  in  relation  to  subsequent  developments  culminating 
in  the  "re-annexation  of  Texas." 

487 


4^8  Andrew  Jackson 

claims  dominion  over  it.  A  premature  recognition  under 
these  circumstances,  if  not  looked  upon  as  justifiable  cause 
of  war,  is  always  liable  to  be  regarded  as  a  proof  of  an 
unfriendly  spirit  to  one  of  the  contending  parties.  All 
questions  relative  to  the  government  of  foreign  nations, 
whether  of  the  Old  or  the  New  World,  have  been  treated 
by  the  United  States  as  questions  of  fact  only,  and  our 
predecessors  have  cautiously  abstained  from  deciding  upon 
them  until  the  clearest  evidence  was  in  their  possession  to 
enable  them  not  only  to  decide  correctly,  but  to  shield  their 
decisions  from  every  unworthy  imputation.  In  all  the  con- 
tests that  have  arisen  out  of  the  revolutions  of  France,  out 
of  the  disputes  relating  to  the  crowns  of  Portugal  and 
Spain,  out  of  the  revolutionary  movements  of  those  King- 
doms, out  of  the  separation  of  the  American  possessions  of 
both  from  the  European  Governments,  and  out  of  the  nu- 
merous and  constantly  occurring  struggles  for  dominion  in 
Spanish  America,  so  wisely  consistent  with  our  just  prin- 
ciples has  been  the  action  of  our  Government  that  we  have 
under  the  most  critical  circumstances  avoided  all  censure 
and  encountered  no  other  evil  than  that  produced  by  a  tran- 
sient estrangement  of  good  will  in  those  against  whom  we 
have  been  by  force  of  evidence  compelled  to  decide. 

It  has  thus  been  made  known  to  the  world  that  the  uni- 
form policy  and  practice  of  the  United  States  is  to  avoid 
all  interference  in  disputes  which  merely  relate  to  the  in- 
ternal government  of  other  nations,  and  eventually  to  recog- 
nize the  authority  of  the  prevailing  party,  without  refer- 
ence to  our  particular  interests  and  views  or  to  the  merits 
of  the  original  controversy.  Public  opinion  here  is  so 
firmly  established  and  well  understood  in  favor  of  this  pol- 
icy that  no  serious  disagreement  has  ever  arisen  among  our- 
selves in  relation  to  it,  although  brought  under  review  in  a 
variety  of  forms  and  at  periods  when  the  minds  of  the  peo- 
ple were  greatly  excited  by  the  agitation  of  topics  purely 
domestic  in  their  character.  Nor  has  any  deliberate  in- 
quiry ever  been  instituted  in  Congress  or  in  any  of  our 
legislative  bodies  as  to  whom  belonged  the  power  of  origi,- 


Message  on  Texas  and  Mexico    4^9 

nally  recognizing  a  new  State — a  power  the  exercise  of 
which  is  equivalent  under  some  circumstances  to  a  declara- 
tion of  war ;  a  power  nowhere  expressly  delegated,  and  only 
granted  in  the  Constitution  as  it  is  necessarily  involved  in 
some  of  the  great  powers  given  to  Congress,  in  that  given 
to  the  President  and  Senate  to  form  treaties  with  foreign 
powers  and  to  appoint  ambassadors  and  other  public  min- 
isters, and  in  that  conferred  upon  the  President  to  receive 
ministers  from  foreign  nations. 

In  the  preamble  to  the  resolution  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives it  is  distinctly  intimated  that  the  expediency  of 
recognizing  the  independence  of  Texas  should  be  left  to 
the  decision  of  Congress.  In  this  view,  on  the  ground  of 
expediency,  I  am  disposed  to  concur,  and  do  not,  therefore, 
consider  it  necessary  to  express  any  opinion  as  to  the  strict 
constitutional  right  of  the  Executive,  either  apart  from  or 
in  conjunction  with  the  Senate,  over  the  subject.  It  is  to 
be  presumed  that  on  no  future  occasion  will  a  dispute  arise, 
as  none  has  heretofore  occurred,  between  the  Executive 
and  Legislature  in  the  exercise  of  the  power  of  recogni- 
tion. It  will  always  be  considered  consistent  with  the  spirit 
of  the  Constitution,  and  most  safe,  that  it  should  be  exer- 
cised, when  probably  leading  to  war,  with  a  previous  under- 
standing with  that  body  by  whom  war  can  alone  be  declared, 
and  by  whom  all  the  provisions  for  sustaining  its  perils 
must  be  furnished.  Its  submission  to  Congress,  which  rep- 
resents in  one  of  its  branches  the  States  of  this  Union  and 
in  the  other  the  people  of  the  United  States,  where  there 
may  be  reasonable  ground  to  apprehend  so  grave  a  conse- 
quence, would  certainly  afford  the  fullest  satisfaction  to 
our  own  country  and  a  perfect  guaranty  to  all  other  nations 
of  the  justice  and  prudence  of  the  measures  which  might 
be  adopted. 

In  making  these  suggestions  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  re- 
lieve myself  from  the  responsibility  of  expressing  my  own 
opinions  of  the  course  the  interests  of  our  country  pre- 
scribe and  its  honor  permits  us  to  follow. 

It  is  scarcely  to  be  imagined  that  a  question  of  this  char- 


49^  Andrew  Jackson 

acter  could  be  presented  in  relation  to  which  It  would  be 
more  difficult  for  the  United  States  to  avoid  exciting  the 
suspicion  and  jealousy  of  other  powers,  and  maintain  their 
established  character  for  fair  and  impartial  dealing.  But 
on  this,  as  on  every  trying  occasion,  safety  is  to  be  found 
in  a  rigid  adherence  to  principle. 

In  the  contest  between  Spain  and  her  revolted  colonies 
we  stood  aloof  and  waited,  not  only  until  the  ability  of  the 
new  States  to  protect  themselves  was  fully  established,  but 
until  the  danger  of  their  being  again  subjugated  had  en- 
tirely passed  away.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  were  they  rec- 
ognized. Such  was  our  course  in  regard  to  Mexico  her- 
self. The  same  policy  was  observed  in  all  the  disputes 
growing  out  of  the  separation  into  distinct  governments  of 
those  Spanish  American  States  who  began  or  carried  on  the 
contest  with  the  parent  country  united  under  one  form  of 
government.  We  acknowledged  the  separate  independence 
of  New  Granada,  of  Venezuela,  and  of  Ecuador  only  after 
their  independent  existence  was  no  longer  a  subject  of  dis- 
pute or  was  actually  acquiesced  in  by  those  with  whom 
they  had  been  previously  united.  It  is  true  that,  with  re- 
gard to  Texas,  the  civil  authority  of  Mexico  has  been 
expelled,  its  invading  army  defeated,  the  chief  of  the  Re- 
public himself  captured,  and  all  present  power  to  control  the 
newly  organized  Government  of  Texas  annihilated  within 
its  confines.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is,  in  appearance 
at  least,  an  immense  disparity  of  physical  force  on  the  side 
of  Mexico.  The  Mexican  Republic  under  another  execu- 
tive is  rallying  its  forces  under  a  new  leader  and  menacing 
a  fresh  invasion  to  recover  its  lost  dominion. 

Upon  the  issue  of  this  threatened  invasion  the  independ- 
ence of  Texas  may  be  considered  as  suspended,  and  were 
there  nothing  peculiar  in  the  relative  situation  of  the  United 
States  and  Texas  our  acknowledgment  of  its  independence 
at  such  a  crisis  could  scarcely  be  regarded  as  consistent 
with  that  prudent  reserve  with  which  we  have  heretofore 
held  ourselves  bound  to  treat  all  similar  questions.  But 
there  are  circumstances  in  the  relations  of  the  two  coun- 


Message  on  Texas  and  Mexico    49  ^ 

tries  which  require  us  to  act  on  this  occasion  with  even 
more  than  our  wonted  caution,  Texas  was  once  claimed 
as  a  part  of  our  property,  and  there  are  those  among  our 
citizens  who,  always  reluctant  to  abandon  that  claim,  can 
not  but  regard  with  solicitude  the  prospect  of  the  reunion 
of  the  territory  to  this  country.  A  large  proportion  of  its 
civilized  inhabitants  are  emigrants  from  the  United  States, 
speak  the  same  language  with  ourselves,  cherish  the  same 
principles,  political  and  religious,  and  are  bound  to  many 
of  our  citizens  by  ties  of  friendship  and  kindred  blood ;  and, 
more  than  all,  it  is  known  that  the  people  of  that  country 
have  instituted  the  same  form  of  government  with  our  own, 
and  have  since  the  close  of  your  last  session  openly  resolved, 
on  the  acknowledgment  by  us  of  their  independence,  to  seek 
admission  into  the  Union  as  one  of  the  Federal  States. 
This  last  circumstance  is  a  matter  of  peculiar  delicacy,  and 
forces  upon  us  considerations  of  the  gravest  character. 
The  title  of  Texas  to  the  territory  she  claims  is  identified 
with  her  independence.  She  asks  us  to  acknowledge  that 
title  to  the  territory,  with  an  avowed  design  to  treat  imme- 
diately of  its  transfer  to  the  Untied  States.  It  becomes  us 
to  beware  of  a  too  early  movement,  as  it  might  subject  us, 
however  unjustly,  to  the  imputation  of  seeking  to  establish 
the  claim  of  our  neighbors  to  a  territory  with  a  view  to  its 
subsequent  acquisition  by  ourselves.  Prudence,  therefore, 
seems  to  dictate  that  we  should  still  stand  aloof  and  main- 
tain our  present  attitude,  if  not  until  Mexico  itself  or  one 
of  the  great  foreign  powers  shall  recognize  the  independ- 
ence of  the  new  Government,  at  least  until  the  lapse  of  time 
or  the  course  of  events  shall  have  proved  beyond  cavil  or 
dispute  the  ability  of  the  people  of  that  country  to  maintain 
their  separate  sovereignty  and  to  uphold  the  Government 
constituted  by  them.  Neither  of  the  contending  parties  can 
justly  complain  of  this  course.  By  pursuing  it  we  are  but 
carrying  out  the  long-established  policy  of  our  Govern- 
ment— a  policy  which  has  secured  to  us  respect  and  influ- 
ence abroad  and  inspired  confidence  at  home. 

Having  thus   discharged  my  duty,  by  presenting  with 


492  Andrew  Jackson 

simplicity  and  directness  the  views  which  after  much  re- 
flection I  have  been  led  to  take  of  this  important  subject, 
I  have  only  to  add  the  expression  of  my  confidence  that  if 
Congress  shall  dififer  with  me  upon  it  their  judgment  will 
be  the  result  of  dispassionate,  prudent,  and  wise  delibera- 
tion, with  the  assurance  that  during  the  short  time  I  shall 
continue  connected  with  the  Government  I  shall  promptly 
and  cordially  unite  with  you  in  such  measures  as  may  be 
deemed  best  fitted  to  increase  the  prosperity  and  perpetuate 
the  peace  of  our  favored  country. 


Farewell  Address.* 

(March  4,   1837.) 

Fellow-Citizens:  Being  about  to  retire  finally  from  pub- 
lic life,  I  beg  leave  to  offer  you  my  grateful  thanks  for  the 
many  proofs  of  kindness  and  confidence  which  I  have  re- 
ceived at  your  hands.  It  has  been  my  fortune  in  the  dis- 
charge of  public  duties,  civil  and  military,  frequently  to 
have  found  myself  in  difficult  and  trying  situations,  where 
prompt  decision  and  energetic  action  were  necessary,  and 
where  the  interest  of  the  country  required  that  high  re- 
sponsibilities should  be  fearlessly  encountered;  and  it  is 
with  the  deepest  emotions  of  gratitude  that  I  acknowledge 
the  continued  and  unbroken  confidence  with  which  you  have 
sustained  me  in  every  trial.  My  public  life  has  been  a  long 
one,  and  I  can  not  hope  that  it  has  at  all  times  been  free 
from  errors;  but  I  have  the  consolation  of  knowing  that  ■ 
if  mistakes  have  been  committed  they  have  not  seriously 
injured  the  country  I  so  anxiously  endeavored  to  serve,  and 
at  the  moment  when  I  surrender  my  last  public  trust  I  leave 
this  great  people  prosperous  and  happy,  in  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  liberty  and  peace,  and  honored  and  respected  by 
every  nation  of  the  world. 

*  "Following  the  example  of  Washington,"  remarks  Benton, 
"General  Jackson  issued  a  farewell  address  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  at  his  retiring  from  the  presidency;  and,  like  that  of  Washing- 
ton, it  was  principally  devoted  to  the  danger  of  disunion,  as  a  possi- 
bility, and  as  an  event  of  future  contingency;  General  Jackson  had  to 
confront  it  as  a  present,  actual,  subsisting  danger."  Thirty  Years' 
View,  I.,  p.  732. 

"Exaltation  was  the  temper  in  which  he  left  oflSce.  He  was  satisfied 
and  triumphant.  Not  another  president  in  the  whole  list  ever  went 
out  of  office  in  a  satisfied  frame  of  mind,  much  less  with  a  feeling  of 
having  completed  a  certain  career  in  triumph."  Sumner's  Andrew 
Jackson,  p.  385. 

493 


494  Andrew  Jackson 

If  my  humble  efforts  have  in  any  degree  contributed  to 
preserve  to  you  these  blessings,  I  have  been  more  than  re- 
warded by  the  honors  you  have  heaped  upon  me,  and, 
above  all,  by  the  generous  confidence  with  which  you  have 
supported  me  in  every  peril,  and  with  which  you  have  con- 
tinued to  animate  and  cheer  my  path  to  the  closing  hour  of 
my  political  life.  The  time  has  now  come  when  advanced 
age  and  a  broken  frame  warn  me  to  retire  from  public  con- 
cerns, but  the  recollection  of  the  many  favors  you  have 
bestowed  upon  me  is  engraven  upon  my  heart,  and  I  have 
felt  that  I  could  not  part  from  your  service  without  making 
this  public  acknowledgment  of  the  gratitude  I  owe  you. 
And  if  I  use  the  occasion  to  offer  to  you  the  counsels  of 
age  and  experience,  you  will,  I  trust,  receive  them  with  the 
same  indulgent  kindness  which  you  have  so  often  extended 
to  me,  and  will  at  least  see  in  them  an  earnest  desire  to 
perpetuate  in  this  favored  land  the  blessings  of  liberty  and 
equal  law. 

We  have  now  lived  almost  fifty  years  under  the  Consti- 
tution framed  by  the  sages  and  patriots  of  the  Revolution. 
The  conflicts  in  which  the  nations*  of  Europe  were  engaged 
during  a  great  part  of  this  period,  the  spirit  in  which  they 
waged  war  against  each  other,  and  our  intimate  commer- 
cial connections  with  every  part  of  the  civilized  world 
rendered  it  a  time  of  much  difficulty  for  the  Government 
of  the  United  States.  We  have  had  our  seasons  of  peace 
and  of  war,  with  all  the  evils  which  precede  or  follow  a  state 
of  hostility  with  powerful  nations.  We  encountered  these 
trials  with  our  Constitution  yet  in  its  infancy,  and  under 
the  disadvantages  which  a  new  and  untried  government 
must  always  feel  when  it  is  called  upon  to  put  forth  its 
whole  strength  without  the  lights  of  experience  to  guide  it 
or  the  weight  of  precedents  to  justify  its  measures.  But 
we  have  passed  triumphantly  through  all  these  difficulties. 
Our  Constitution  is  no  longer  a  doubtful  experiment,  and 
at  the  end  of  nearly  half  a  century  we  find  that  it  has  pre- 
served unimpaired  the  liberties  of  the  people,  secured  the 
rights  of  property,  and  that  our  country  has  improved  and 


Farewell  Address  495 

is  flourishing  beyond  any  former  example  in  the  history  of 
nations. 

In  our  domestic  concerns  there  is  everything  to  encourage 
us,  and  if  you  are  true  to  yourselves  nothing  can  impede 
your  march  to  the  highest  point  of  national  prosperity. 
The  States  which  had  so  long  been  retarded  in  their  im- 
provement by  the  Indian  tribes  residing  in  the  midst  of 
them  are  at  length  relieved  from  the  evil,  and  this  unhappy 
race — the  original  dwellers  in  our  land — are  now  placed  in 
a  situation  where  we  may  well  hope  that  they  will  share  in 
the  blessings  of  civilization  and  be  saved  from  that  degrada- 
tion and  destruction  to  which  they  were  rapidly  hastening 
while  they  remained  in  the  States;  and  while  the  safety  and 
comfort  of  our  own  citizens  have  been  greatly  promoted  by 
their  removal,  the  philanthropist  will  rejoice  that  the  rem- 
nant of  that  ill-fated  race  has  been  at  length  placed  beyond 
the  reach  of  injury  or  oppression,  and  that  the  paternal  care 
of  the  General  Government  will  hereafter  watch  over  them 
and  protect  them. 

If  we  turn  to  our  relations  with  foreign  powers,  we  find 
our  condition  equally  gratifying.  Actuated  by  the  sincere 
desire  to  do  justice  to  every  nation  and  to  preserve  the 
blessings  of  peace,  our  intercourse  with  them  has  been  con- 
ducted on  the  part  of  this  Government  in  the  spirit  of  frank- 
ness ;  and  I  take  pleasure  in  saying  that  it  has  generally  been 
met  in  a  corresponding  temper.  Difificulties  of  old  stand- 
ing have  been  surmounted  by  friendly  discussion  and  the 
mutual  desire  to  be  just,  and  the  claims  of  our  citizens, 
which  had  been  long  withheld,  have  at  length  been  acknowl- 
edged and  adjusted  and  satisfactory  arrangements  made 
for  their  final  payment;  and  with  a  limited,  and  I  trust  a 
temporary,  exception,  our  relations  with  every  foreign 
power  are  now  of  the  most  friendly  character,  our  com- 
merce continually  expanding,  and  our  flag  respected  in  every 
quarter  of  the  world. 

These  cheering  and  grateful  prospects  and  these  mul- 
tiplied favors  we  owe,  under  Providence,  to  the  adoption 
of  the  Federal  Constitution.     It  is  no  longer  a  question 


49^  Andrew  Jackson 

whether  this  great  country  can  remain  happily  united  and 
flourish  under  our  present  form  of  government.  Experi- 
ence, the  unerring  test  of  all  human  undertakings,  has 
shown  the  wisdom  and  foresight  of  those  who  formed  it, 
and  has  proved  that  in  the  union  of  these  States  there  is  a 
sure  foundation  for  the  brightest  hopes  of  freedom  and 
for  the  happiness  of  the  people.  At  every  hazard  and  by 
every  sacrifice  this  Union  must  be  preserved. 

The  necessity  of  watching  with  jealous  anxiety  for  the 
preservation  of  the  Union  was  earnestly  pressed  upon  his 
fellow-citizens  by  the  Father  of  his  Country  in  his  Fare- 
well Address.  He  has  there  told  us  that  "  while  experience 
shall  not  have  demonstrated  its  impracticability,  there  will 
always  be  reason  to  distrust  the  patriotism  of  those  who  in 
any  quarter  may  endeavor  to  weaken  its  bands ;  "  and  he  has 
cautioned  us  in  the  strongest  terms  against  the  formation 
of  parties  on  geographical  discriminations,  as  one  of  the 
means  which  might  disturb  our  Union  and  to  which  de- 
signing men  would  be  likely  to  resort. 

The  lessons  contained  in  this  invaluable  legacy  of  Wash- 
ington to  his  countrymen  should  be  cherished  in  the  heart 
of  every  citizen  to  the  latest  generation ;  and  perhaps  at  no 
period  of  time  could  they  be  more  usefully  remembered  than 
at  the  present  moment;  for  when  we  look  upon  the  scenes 
that  are  passing  around  us  and  dwell  upon  the  pages  of  his 
parting  address,  his  paternal  counsels  would  seem  to  be  not 
merely  the  offspring  of  wisdom  and  foresight,  but  the  voice 
of  prophecy,  foretelling  events  and  warning  us  of  the  evil 
to  come.  Forty  years  have  passed  since  this  imperishable 
document  was  given  to  his  countrymen.  The  Federal  Con- 
stitution was  then  regarded  by  him  as  an  experiment — and 
he  so  speaks  of  it  in  his  Address — but  an  experiment  upon 
the  success  of  which  the  best  hopes  of  his  country  depended ; 
and  we  all  know  that  he  was  prepared  to  lay  down  his  life, 
if  necessary,  to  secure  to  it  a  full  and  a  fair  trial.  The  trial 
has  been  made.  It  has  succeeded  beyond  the  proudest 
hopes  of  those  who  framed  it.  Every  quarter  of  this  widely 
extended   nation  has  felt  its  blessings  and  shared  in  the 


Farewell   Address  497 

general  prosperity  produced  by  its  adoption.  But  amid 
tliis  general  prosperity  and  splendid  success  the  dangers  of 
which  he  warned  us  are  becoming  every  day  more  evident, 
and  the  signs  of  evil  are  sufficiently  apparent  to  awaken  the 
deepest  anxiety  in  the  bosom  of  the  patriot.  We  behold 
systematic  efforts  publicly  made  to  sow  the  seeds  of  discord 
between  different  parts  of  the  United  States  and  to  place 
party  divisions  directly  upon  geographical  distinctions;  to 
excite  the  South  against  the  North  and  the  North  against 
the  South,  and  to  force  into  the  controversy  the  most  deli- 
cate and  exciting  topics — topics  upon  which  it  is  impossible 
that  a  large  portion  of  the  Union  can  ever  speak  without 
strong  emotion.  Appeals,  too,  are  constantly  made  to  sec- 
tional interests  in  ord^r  to  influence  the  election  of  the  Chief 
Magistrate,  as  if  it  were  desired  that  he  should  favor  a  par- 
ticular quarter  of  the  country  instead  of  fulfilling  the  duties 
of  his  station  with  impartial  justice  to  all ;  and  the  possible 
dissolution  of  the  Union  has  at  length  become  an  ordinary 
and  familiar  subject  of  discussion.  Has  the  warning  voice 
of  Washington  been  forgotten,  or  have  designs  already 
been  formed  to  sever  the  Union?  Let  it  not  be  supposed 
that  I  impute  to  all  of  those  who  have  taken  an  active  part 
in  these  unwise  and  unprofitable  discussions  a  want  of 
patriotism  or  of  public  virtue.  The  honorable  feeling  of 
State  pride  and  local  attachments  finds  a  place  in  the  bosoms 
of  the  most  enlightened  and  pure.  But  while  such  men  are 
conscious  of  their  own  integrity  and  honesty  of  purpose, 
theyought  never  to  forget  that  the  citizens  of  other  States 
are  their  political  brethren,  and  that  however  mistaken  they 
may  be  in  their  views,  the  great  body  of  them  are  equally 
honest  and  upright  with  themselves.  Mutual  suspicions 
and  reproaches  may  in  time  create  mutual  hostility,  and  art- 
ful and  designing  men  will  always  be  found  who  are  ready 
to  foment  these  fatal  divisions  and  to  inflame  the  natural 
jealousies  of  different  sections  of  the  country.  The  history 
of  the  world  is  full  of  such  examples,  and  especially  the 
history  of  republics. 

What  have  you  to  gain  by  division  and  dissension  ?     De- 


49^  Andrew  Jackson 

lude  not  yourselves  with  the  behef  that  a  breach  once  made 
may  be  afterwards  repaired.  If  the  Union  is  once  severed, 
the  hne  of  separation  will  grow  wider  and  wider,  and  the 
controversies  which  are  now  debated  and  settled  in  the  halls 
of  legislation  will  then  be  tried  in  fields  of  battle  and  deter- 
mined by  the  sword.  Neither  should  you  deceive  your- 
selves with  the  hope  that  the  first  line  of  separation  would 
be  the  permanent  one,  and  that  nothing  but  harmony  and 
concord  would  be  found  in  the  new  associations  formed 
upon  the  dissolution  of  this  Union.  Local  interests  would 
still  be  found  there,  and  unchastened  ambition.  And  if  the 
recollection  of  common  dangers,  in  which  the  people  of 
these  United  States  stood  side  by  side  against  the  common 
foe,  the  memory  of  victories  won  by  their  united  valor,  the 
prosperity  and  happiness  they  have  enjoyed  under  the  pres- 
ent Constitution,  the  proud  name  they  bear  as  citizens  of 
this  great  Republic — if  all  these  recollections  and  proofs  of 
common  interest  are  not  strong  enough  to  bind  us  together 
as  one  people,  what  tie  will  hold  united  the  new  divisions  of 
empire  when  these  bonds  have  been  broken  and  this  Union 
dissevered?  The  first  line  of  separation  would  not  last 
for  a  single  generation;  new  fragments  would  be  torn  off, 
new  leaders  would  spring  up,  and  this  great  and  glorious 
Republic  would  soon  be  broken  into  a  multitude  of  petty 
States,  without  commerce,  without  credit,  jealous  of  one 
another,  armed  for  mutual  aggression,  loaded  with  taxes  to 
pay  armies  and  leaders,  seeking  aid  against  each  other  from 
foreign  powers,  insulted  and  trampled  upon  by  the  nations 
of  Europe,  until,  harassed  with  conflicts  and  humbled  and 
debased  in  spirit,  they  would  be  ready  to  submit  to  the  abso- 
lute dominion  of  any  military  adventurer  and  to  surrender 
their  liberty  for  the  sake  of  repose.  It  is  impossible  to  look 
on  the  consequences  that  would  inevitably  follow  the  de- 
struction of  this  Government  and  not  feel  indignant  when 
we  hear  cold  calculations  about  the  value  of  the  Union  and 
have  so  constantly  before  us  a  line  of  conduct  so  well  calcu- 
lated to  weaken  its  ties. 

There  is  too  much  at  stake  to  allow  pride  or  passion  to 


Farewell   Address  499 

influence  your  decision.  Never  for  a  moment  believe  that 
the  great  body  of  the  citizens  of  any  State  or  States  can 
dehberately  intend  to  do  wrong.  They  may,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  temporary  excitement  or  misguided  opinions, 
commit  mistakes;  they  may  be  misled  for  a  time  by  the 
suggestions  of  self-interest ;  but  in  a  community  so  enlight- 
ened and  patriotic  as  the  people  of  the  United  States  argu- 
ment will  soon  make  them  sensible  of  their  errors,  and  when 
convinced  they  will  be  ready  to  repair  them.  If  they  have 
no  higher  or  better  motives  to  govern  them,  they  will  at 
least  perceive  that  their  own  interest  requires  them  to  be 
just  to  others,  as  they  hope  to  receive  justice  at  their  hands. 

But  in  order  to  maintain  the  Union  unimpaired  it  is  ab- 
solutely necessary  that  the  laws  passed  by  the  constituted 
authorities  should  be  faithfully  executed  in  every  part  of 
the  country,  and  that  every  good  citizen  should  at  all  times 
stand  ready  to  put  down,  with  the  combined  force  of  the 
nation,  every  attempt  at  unlawful  resistance,  under  what- 
ever pretext  it  may  be  made  or  whatever  shape  it  may  as- 
sume. Unconstitutional  or  oppressive  laws  may  no  doubt 
be  passed  by  Congress,  either  from  erroneous  views  or  the 
want  of  due  consideration;  if  they  are  within  the  reach  of 
judicial  authority,  the  remedy  is  easy  and  peaceful ;  and  if, 
from  the  character  of  the  law,  it  is  an  abuse  of  power  not 
within  the  control  of  the  judiciary,  then  free  discussion  and 
calm  appeals  to  reason  and  to  the  justice  of  the  people  will 
not  fail  to  redress  the  wrong.  But  until  the  law  shall  be 
declared  void  by  the  courts  or  repealed  by  Congress  no  in- 
dividual or  combination  of  individuals  can  be  justified  in 
forcibly  resisting  its  execution.  It  is  impossible  that  any 
government  can  continue  to  exist  upon  any  other  principles. 
It  would  cease  to  be  a  government  and  be  unworthy  of  the 
name  if  it  had  not  the  power  to  enforce  the  execution  of  its 
own  laws  within  its  own  sphere  of  action. 

It  is  true  that  cases  may  be  imagined  disclosing  such  a 
settled  purpose  of  usurpation  and  oppression  on  the  part 
of  the  Government  as  would  justify  an  appeal  to  arms. 
These,   however,    are   extreme   cases,   which   we   have   no 


500  Andrew  Jackson 

reason  to  apprehend  in  a  government  where  the  power  is  in 
the  hands  of  a  patriotic  people.  And  no  citizen  who  loves 
his  country  would  in  any  case  whatever  resort  to  forcible 
resistance  unless  he  clearly  saw  that  the  time  had  come  when 
a  freeman  should  prefer  death  to  submission;  for  if  such  a 
struggle  is  once  begun,  and  the  citizens  of  one  section  of 
the  country  arrayed  in  arms  against  those  of  another  in 
doubtful  conflict,  let  the  battle  result  as  it  may,  there  will 
be  an  end  of  the  Union  and  with  it  an  end  to  the  hopes  of 
freedom.  The  victory  of  the  injured  would  not  secure  to 
them  the  blessings  of  liberty ;  it  would  avenge  their  wrongs, 
but  they  would  themselves  share  in  the  common  ruin. 

But  the  Constitution  can  not  be  maintained  nor  the  Union 
preserved,  in  opposition  to  public  feeling,  by  the  mere  exer- 
tion of  the  coercive  powers  confided  to  the  General  Govern- 
ment. The  foundations  must  be  laid  in  the  affections  of 
the  people,  in  the  security  it  gives  to  life,  liberty,  character, 
and  property  in  every  quarter  of  the  country,  and  in  the 
fraternal  attachment  which  the  citizens  of  the  several  States 
bear  to  one  another  as  members  of  one  political  family, 
mutually  contributing  to  promote  the  happiness  of  each 
other.  Hence  the  citizens  of  every  State  should  studiously 
avoid  everything  calculated  to  wound  the  sensibility  or  of- 
fend the  just  pride  of  the  people  of  other  States,  and  they 
should  frown  upon  any  proceedings  within  their  own  bor- 
ders likely  to  disturb  the  tranquillity  of  their  political  breth- 
ren in  other  portions  of  the  Union.  In  a  country  so  exten- 
sive as  the  United  States,  and  with  pursuits  so  varied,  the 
internal  regulations  of  the  several  States  must  frequently 
differ  from  one  another  in  important  particulars,  and  this 
difference  is  unavoidably  increased  by  the  varying  prin- 
ciples upon  which  the  American  Colonies  were  originally 
planted — principles  which  had  taken  deep  root  in  their  social 
relations  before  the  Revolution,  and  therefore  of  necessity 
influencing  their  policy  since  they  became  free  and  inde- 
pendent States.  But  each  State  has  the  unquestionable 
right  to  regulate  its  own  internal  concerns  according  to  its 
own  pleasure,  and  while  it  does  not  interfere  with  the  rights 


Farewell  Address  5°' 

of  the  people  of  other  States  or  the  rights  of  the  Union, 
every  State  must  be  the  sole  judge  of  the  measures  proper 
to  secure  the  safety  of  its  citizens  and  promote  their  happi- 
ness; and  all  efforts  on  the  part  of  people  of  other  States 
to  cast  odium  upon  their  institutions,  and  all  measures  cal- 
culated to  disturb  their  rights  of  property  or  to  put  in  jeop- 
ardy their  peace  and  internal  tranquillity,  are  in  direct  oppo- 
sition to  the  spirit  in  which  the  Union  was  formed,  and 
must  endanger  its  safety.  Motives  of  philanthropy  may  be 
assigned  for  this  unwarrantable  interference,  and  weak  men 
may  persuade  themselves  for  a  moment  that  they  are  labor- 
ing in  the  cause  of  humanity  and  asserting  the  rights  of  the 
human  race;  but  everyone,  upon  sober  reflection,  will  see 
that  nothing  but  mischief  can  come  from  these  improper 
assaults  upon  the  feelings  and  rights  of  others.  Rest  as- 
sured that  the  men  found  busy  in  this  work  of  discord  are 
not  worthy  of  your  confidence,  and  deserve  your  strongest 
reprobation. 

In  the  legislation  of  Congress  also,  and  in  every  measure 
of  the  General  Government,  justice  to  every  portion  of  the 
United  States  should  be  faithfully  observed.  No  free  gov- 
ernment can  stand  without  virtue  in  the  people  and  a  lofty 
spirit  of  patriotism,  and  if  the  sordid  feelings  of  mere 
selfishness  shall  usurp  the  place  which  ought  to  be  filled  by 
public  spirit,  the  legislation  of  Congress  will  soon  be  con- 
verted into  a  scramble  for  personal  and  sectional  advan- 
tages. Under  our  free  institutions  the  citizens  of  every 
quarter  of  our  country  are  capable  of  attaining  a  high  de- 
gree of  prosperity  and  happiness  without  seeking  to  profit 
themselves  at  the  expense  of  others ;  and  every  such  attempt 
must  in  the  end  fail  to  succeed,  for  the  people  in  every  part 
of  the  United  States  are  too  enlightened  not  to  understand 
their  own  rights  and  interests  and  to  detect  and  defeat  every 
effort  to  gain  undue  advantages  over  them ;  and  when  such 
designs  are  discovered  it  naturally  provokes  resentments 
which  can  not  always  be  easily  allayed.  Justice — full  and 
ample  justice — to  every  portion  of  the  United  States  should 
be  the  ruling  principle  of  every  freeman,  and  should  guide 


5^2  Andrew   Jackson 

the  deliberations  of  every  public  body,  whether  it  be  State 
or  national. 

It  is  well  known  that  there  have  always  been  those 
amongst  us  who  wish  to  enlarge  the  powers  of  the  General 
Government,  and  experience  would  seem  to  indicate  that 
there  is  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  this  Government  to  over- 
step the  boundaries  marked  out  for  it  by  the  Constitution. 
Its  legitimate  authority  is  abundantly  sufficient  for  all  the 
purposes  for  which  it  was  created,  and  its  powers  being 
expressly  enumerated,  there  can  be  no  justification  for 
claiming  anything  beyond  them.  Every  attempt  to  exer- 
cise power  beyond  these  limits  should  be  promptly  and 
firmly  opposed,  for  one  evil  example  will  lead  to  other 
measures  still  more  mischievous;  and  if  the  principle  of 
constructive  powers  or  supposed  advantages  or  temporary 
circumstances  shall  ever  be  permitted  to  justify  the  assump- 
tion of  a  power  not  given  by  the  Constitution,  the  General 
Government  will  before  long  absorb  all  the  powers  of  legis- 
lation, and  you  will  have  in  effect  but  one  consolidated 
government.  From  the  extent  of  our  country,  its  diversi- 
fied interests,  different  pursuits,  and  different  habits,  it  is 
too  obvious  for  argument  that  a  single  consolidated  govern- 
ment would  be  wholly  inadequate  to  watch  over  and  protect 
its  interests ;  and  every  friend  of  our  free  institutions  should 
be  always  prepared  to  maintain  unimpaired  and  in  full  vigor 
the  rights  and  sovereignty  of  the  States  and  to  confine  the 
action  of  the  General  Government  strictly  to  the  sphere  of 
its  appropriate  duties. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  one  of  the  powers  conferred  on  the 
Federal  Government  so  liable  to  abuse  as  the  taxing  power. 
The  most  productive  and  convenient  sources  of  revenue 
were  necessarily  given  to  it,  that  it  might  be  able  to  perform 
the  important  duties  imposed  upon  it ;  and  the  taxes  which 
it  lays  upon  commerce  being  concealed  from  the  real  payer 
in  the  price  of  the  article,  they  do  not  so  readily  attract 
the  attention  of  the  people  as  smaller  sums  demanded  from 
them  directly  by  the  taxgatherer.  But  the  tax  imposed  on 
goods  enhances  by  so  much  the  price  of  the  commodity  to 


Farewell  Address  5^3 

the  consumer,  and  as  many  of  these  duties  are  imposed  on 
articles  of  necessity  which  are  daily  used  by  the  great  body 
of  the  people,  the  money  raised  by  these  imposts  is  drawn 
from  their  pockets.  Congress  has  no  right  under  the  Con- 
stitution to  take  money  from  the  people  unless  it  is  required 
to  execute  some  one  of  the  specific  powers  intrusted  to  the 
Government;  and  if  they  raise  more  than  is  necessary  for 
such  purposes,  it  is  an  abuse  of  the  power  of  taxation,  and 
unjust  and  oppressive.  It  may  indeed  happen  that  the  reve- 
nue will  sometimes  exceed  the  amount  anticipated  when  the 
taxes  were  laid.  When,  however,  this  ascertained,  it  is 
easy  to  reduce  them,  and  in  such  a  case  it  is  unquestionably 
the  duty  of  the  Government  to  reduce  them,  for  no  circum- 
stances can  justify  it  in  assuming  a  power  not  given  to  it 
by  the  Constitution  nor  in  taking  away  the  money  of  the 
people  when  it  is  not  needed  for  the  legitimate  wants  of  the 
Government. 

Plain  as  these  principles  appear  to  be,  you  will  yet  find 
there  is  a  constant  effort  to  induce  the  General  Government 
to  go  beyond  the  limits  of  its  taxing  power  and  to  impose 
unnecessary  burdens  upon  the  people.  Many  powerful  in- 
terests are  continually  at  work  to  procure  heavy  duties  on 
commerce  and  to  swell  the  revenue  beyond  the  real  necessi- 
ties of  the  public  service,  and  the  country  has  already  felt 
the  injurious  effects  of  their  combined  influence.  They 
succeeded  in  obtaining  a  tariff  of  duties  bearing  most  op- 
pressively on  the  agricultural  and  laboring  classes  of  society 
and  producing  a  revenue  that  could  not  be  usefully  em- 
ployed within  the  range  of  the  powers  conferred  upon  Con- 
gress, and  in  order  to  fasten  upon  the  people  this  unjust 
and  unequal  system  of  taxation  extravagant  schemes  of 
internal  improvement  were  got  up  in  various  quarters  to 
squander  the  money  and  to  purchase  support.  Thus  one 
unconstitutional  measure  was  intended  to  be  upheld  by 
another,  and  the  abuse  of  the  power  of  taxation  was  to 
be  maintained  by  usurping  the  power  of  expending  the 
money  in  internal  improvements.  You  can  not  have  for- 
gotten the   severe   and   doubtful   struggle   through   which 


5°4  Andrew  Jackson 

we  passed  when  the  executive  department  of  the  Gov- 
ernment by  its  veto,  endeavored  to  arrest  this  prodigal 
scheme  of  injustice  and  to  bring  back  the  legislation  of 
Congress  to  the  boundaries  prescribed  by  the  Constitu- 
tion. The  good  sense  and  practical  judgment  of  the 
people  when  the  subject  was  brought  before  them  sus- 
tained the  course  of  the  Executive,  and  this  plan  of  uncon- 
stitutional expenditures  for  the  purposes  of  corrupt  influ- 
ence is,  I  trust,  finally  overthrown. 

The  result  of  this  decision  has  been  felt  in  the  rapid  ex- 
tinguishment of  the  public  debt  and  the  large  accumulation 
of  a  surplus  in  the  Treasury,  notwithstanding  the  tariff 
was  reduced  and  is  now  very  far  below  the  amount  origi- 
nally contemplated  by  its  advocates.  But,  rely  upon  it,  the 
design  to  collect  an  extravagant  revenue  and  to  burden  you 
with  taxes  beyond  the  economical  wants  of  the  Government 
is  not  yet  abandoned.  The  various  interests  which  have 
combined  together  to  impose  a  heavy  tariff  and  to  produce 
an  overflowing  Treasury  are  too  strong  and  have  too  much 
at  stake  to  surrender  the  contest.  The  corporations  and 
wealthy  individuals  who  are  engaged  in  large  manufactur- 
ing establishments  desire  a  high  tariff  to  increase  their  gains. 
Designing  politicians  will  support  it  to  conciliate  their  favor 
and  to  obtain  the  means  of  profuse  expenditure  for  the  pur- 
pose of  purchasing  influence  in  other  quarters;  and  since 
the  people  have  decided  that  the  Federal  Government  can 
not  be  permitted  to  employ  its  income  in  internal  improve- 
ments, efforts  will  be  made  to  seduce  and  mislead  the  citi- 
zens of  the  several  States  by  holding  out  to  them  the  deceit- 
ful prospect  of  benefits  to  be  derived  from  a  surplus  revenue 
collected  by  the  General  Government  and  annually  divided 
among  the  States;  and  if,  encouraged  by  these  falla- 
cious hopes,  the  States  should  disregard  the  principles  of 
economy  which  ought  to  characterize  every  republican  gov- 
ernment, and  should  indulge  in  lavish  expenditures  exceed- 
ing their  resources,  they  will  before  long  find  themselves 
oppressed  with  debts  which  they  are  unable  to  pay,  and  the 
temptation  will  become  irresistible  to  support  a  high  tariff 


Farewell  Address  5^5 

in  order  to  obtain  a  surplus  for  distribution.  Do  not  allow 
yourselves,  my  fellow-citizens,  to  be  inisled  on  this  subject. 
The  Federal  Government  can  not  collect  a  surplus  for  such 
purposes  without  violating  the  principles  of  the  Constitu- 
tion and  assuming  powers  which  have  not  been  granted.  It 
is,  moreover,  a  system  of  injustice,  and  if  persisted  in  will 
inevitably  lead  to  corruption,  and  must  end  in  ruin.  The 
surplus  revenue  will  be  drawn  from  the  pockets  of  the 
people — from  the  farmer,  the  mechanic,  and  the  laboring 
classes  of  society;  but  who  will  receive  it  when  distributed 
among  the  States,  where  it  is  to  be  disposed  of  by  leading 
State  politicians,  who  have  friends  to  favor  and  political 
partisans  to  gratify?  It  will  certainly  not  be  returned  to 
those  who  paid  it  and  who  have  most  need  of  it  and  are 
honestly  entitled  to  it.  There  is  but  one  safe  rule,  and  that 
is  to  confine  the  General  Government  rigidly  within  the 
sphere  of  its  appropriate  duties.  It  has  no  power  to  raise 
a  revenue  or  impose  taxes  except  for  the  purposes  enumer- 
ated in  the  Constitution,  and  if  its  income  is  found  to  ex- 
ceed these  wants  it  should  be  forthwith  reduced  and  the 
burden  of  the  people  so  far  lightened. 

In  reviewing  the  conflicts  which  have  taken  place  between 
different  interests  in  the  United  States  and  the  policy  pur- 
sued since  the  adoption  of  our  present  form  of  Government, 
we  find  nothing  that  has  produced  such  deep-seated  evil 
as  the  course  of  legislation  in  relation  to  the  currency.  The 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  unquestionably  intended 
to  secure  to  the  people  a  circulating  medium  of  gold  and 
silver.  But  the  establishment  of  a  national  bank  by  Con- 
gress, with  the  privilege  of  issuing  paper  money  receivable 
in  the  payment  of  the  public  dues,  and  the  unfortunate 
course  of  legislation  in  the  several  States  upon  the  same 
subject,  drove  from  general  circulation  the  constitutional 
currency  and  substituted  one  of  paper  in  its  place. 

It  was  not  easy  for  men  engaged  in  the  ordinary  pursuits 
of  business,  whose  attention  had  not  been  particularly 
drawn  to  the  subject,  to  foresee  all  the  consequences  of  a 
currency  exclusively  of  paper,  and  we  ought  not  on  that 


5°^  Andrew  Jackson 

account  to  be  surprised  at  the  facility  with  which  laws  were 
obtained  to  carry  into  effect  the  paper  system.  Honest  and 
even  enlightened  men  are  sometimes  misled  by  the  specious 
and  plausible  statements  of  the  designing.  But  experience 
has  now  proved  the  mischiefs  and  dangers  of  a  paper  cur- 
rency, and  it  rests  with  you  to  determine  whether  the  proper 
remedy  shall  be  applied. 

The  paper  system  being  founded  on  public  confidence  and 
having  of  itself  no  intrinsic  value,  it  is  liable  to  great  and 
sudden  fluctuations,  thereby  rendering  property  insecure 
and  the  wages  of  labor  unsteady  and  uncertain.  The  cor- 
porations which  create  the  paper  money  can  not  be  relied 
upon  to  keep  the  circulating  medium  uniform  in  amount. 
In  times  of  prosperity,  when  confidence  is  high,  they  are 
tempted  by  the  prospect  of  gain  or  by  the  influence  of  those 
who  hope  to  profit  by  it  to  extend  their  issues  of  paper 
beyond  the  bounds  of  discretion  and  the  reasonable  demands 
of  business;  and  when  these  issues  have  been  pushed  on 
from  day  to  day,  until  public  confidence  is  at  length  shaken, 
then  a  reaction  takes  place,  and  they  immediately  withdraw 
the  credits  they  have  given,  suddenly  curtail  their  issues, 
and  produce  an  unexpected  and  ruinous  contraction  of  the 
circulating  medium,  which  is  felt  by  the  whole  community. 
The  banks  by  this  means  save  themselves,  and  the  mischiev- 
ous consequences  of  their  imprudence  or  cupidity  are  visited 
upon  the  public.  Nor  does  the  evil  stop  here.  These  ebbs 
and  flows  in  the  currency  and  these  indiscreet  extensions 
of  credit  naturally  engender  a  spirit  of  speculation  injurious 
to  the  habits  and  character  of  the  people.  We  have  already 
seen  its  effects  in  the  wild  spirit  of  speculation  in  the  public 
lands  and  various  kinds  of  stock  which  within  the  last  year 
or  two  seized  upon  such  a  multitude  of  our  citizens  and 
threatened  to  pervade  all  classes  of  society  and  to  withdraw 
their  attention  from  the  sober  pursuits  of  honest  industry. 
It  is  not  by  encouraging  this  spirit  that  we  shall  best  pre- 
serve public  virtue  and  promote  the  true  interests  of  our 
country;  but  if  your  currency  continues  as  exclusively  paper 
as  it  now  is,  it  will  foster  this  eager  desire  to  amass  wealth 


Farewell   Address  S^7 

without  labor ;  it  will  multiply  the  number  of  dependents  on 
bank  accommodations  and  bank  favors;  the  temptation  to 
obtain  money  at  any  sacrifice  will  become  stronger  and 
stronger,  and  inevitably  lead  to  corruption,  which  will  find 
its  way  into  your  public  councils  and  destroy  at  no  distant 
day  the  purity  of  your  Government.  Some  of  the  evils 
which  arise  from  this  system  of  paper  press  with  peculiar 
hardship  upon  the  class  of  society  least  able  to  bear  it.  A 
portion  of  this  currency  frequently  becomes  depreciated  or 
worthless,  and  all  of  it  is  easily  counterfeited  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  require  peculiar  skill  and  much  experience  to 
distinguish  the  counterfeit  from  the  genuine  note.  These 
frauds  are  most  generally  perpetrated  in  the  smaller  notes, 
which  are  used  in  the  daily  transactions  of  ordinary  busi- 
ness, and  the  losses  occasioned  by  them  are  commonly 
thrown  upon  the  laboring  classes  of  society,  whose  situa- 
tion and  pursuits  put  it  out  of  their  power  to  guard  them- 
selves from  these  impositions,  and  whose  daily  wages  are 
necessary  for  their  subsistence.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  gov- 
ernment so  to  regulate  its  currency  as  to  protect  this  nu- 
merous class,  as  far  as  practicable,  from  the  impositions  of 
avarice  and  fraud.  It  is  more  especially  the  duty  of  the 
United  States,  where  the  Government  is  emphatically  the 
Government  of  the  people,  and  where  this  respectable  por- 
tion of  our  citizens  are  so  proudly  distinguished  from  the 
laboring  classes  of  all  other  nations  by  their  independent 
spirit,  their  love  of  liberty,  their  intelligence,  and  their  high 
tone  of  moral  character.  Their  industry  in  peace  is  the 
source  of  our  wealth  and  their  bravery  in  war  has  covered 
us  with  glory;  and  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
will  but  ill  discharge  its  duties  if  it  leaves  them  a  prey  to 
such  dishonest  impositions.  Yet  it  is  evident  that  their 
interests  can  not  be  effectually  protected  unless  silver  and 
gold  are  restored  to  circulation. 

These  views  alone  of  the  paper  currency  are  sufficient  to 
call  for  immediate  reform;  but  there  is  another  considera- 
tion which  should  still  more  strongly  press  it  upon  your 
attention. 


5o8  Andrew  Jackson 

Recent  events  have  proved  that  the  paper-money  system 
of  this  country  may  be  used  as  an  engine  to  undermine  your 
free  institutions,  and  that  those  who  desire  to  engross  all 
power  in  the  hands  of  the  few  and  to  govern  by  corruption 
or  force  are  aware  of  its  power  and  prepared  to  employ  it. 
Your  banks  now  furnish  your  only  circulating  medium,  and 
money  is  plenty  or  scarce  according  to  the  quantity  of  notes 
issued  by  them.  While  they  have  capitals  not  greatly  dis- 
proportioned  to  each  other,  they  are  competitors  in  business, 
and  no  one  of  them  can  exercise  dominion  over  the  rest; 
and  although  in  the  present  state  of  the  currency  these  banks 
may  and  do  operate  injuriously  upon  the  habits  of  business, 
the  pecuniary  concerns,  and  the  moral  tone  of  society,  yet, 
from  their  number  and  dispersed  situation,  they  can  not 
combine  for  the  purposes  of  political  influence,  and  what- 
ever may  be  the  dispositions  of  some  of  them  their  power 
of  mischief  must  necessarily  be  confined  to  a  narrow  space 
and  felt  only  in  their  immediate  neighborhoods. 

But  when  the  charter  for  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
was  obtained  from  Congress  it  perfected  the  schemes  of  the 
paper  system  and  gave  to  its  advocates  the  position  they 
have  struggled  to  obtain  from  the  commencement  of  the 
Federal  Government  to  the  present  hour.  The  immense 
capital  and  peculiar  privileges  bestowed  upon  it  enabled  it 
to  exercise  despotic  sway  over  the  other  banks  in  every  part 
of  the  country.  From  its  superior  strength  it  could  seri- 
ously injure,  if  not  destroy,  the  business  of  any  one  of 
them  which  might  incur  its  resentment;  and  it  openly 
claimed  for  itself  the  power  of  regulating  the  currency 
throughout  the  United  States.  In  other  words,  it  asserted 
(and  it  undoubtedly  possessed)  the  power  to  make  money 
plenty  or  scarce  at  its  pleasure,  at  any  time  and  in  any  quar- 
ter of  the  Union,  by  controlling  the  issues  of  other  banks  and 
permitting  an  expansion  or  compelling  a  general  contrac- 
tion of  the  circulating  medium,  according  to  its  own  will. 
The  other  banking  institutions  were  sensible  of  its  strength, 
and  they  soon  generally  became  its  obedient  instruments, 
ready  at  all  times  to  execute  its  mandates;  and  with  the 


Farewell  Address  509 

banks  necessarily  went  also  that  numerous  class  of  persons 
in  our  commercial  cities  who  depend  altogether  on  bank 
credits  for  their  solvency  and  means  of  business,  and  who 
are  therefore  obliged,  for  their  own  safety,  to  propitiate  the 
favor  of  the  money  power  by  distinguished  zeal  and  devo- 
tion in  its  service.  The  result  of  the  ill-advised  legislation 
which  established  this  great  monopoly  was  to  concentrate 
the  whole  moneyed  power  of  the  Union,  with  its  boundless 
means  of  corruption  and  its  numerous  dependents,  under 
the  direction  and  command  of  one  acknowledged  head,  thus 
organizing  this  particular  interest  as  one  body  and  securing 
to  it  unity  and  concert  of  action  throughout  the  United 
States,  and  enabling  it  to  bring  forward  upon  any  occasion 
its  entire  and  undivided  strength  to  support  or  defeat  any 
measure  of  the  Government.  In  the  hands  of  this  formi- 
dable power,  thus  perfectly  organized,  was  also  placed  un- 
limited dominion  over  the  amount  of  the  circulating 
medium,  giving  it  the  power  to  regulate  the  value  of  prop- 
erty and  the  fruits  of  labor  in  every  quarter  of  the  Union, 
and  to  bestow  prosperity  or  bring  ruin  upon  any  city  or 
section  of  the  country  as  might  best  comport  with  its  own 
interest  or  policy. 

We  are  not  left  to  conjecture  how  the  moneyed  power, 
thus  organized  and  with  such  a  weapon  in  its  hands,  would 
be  likely  to  use  it.  The  distress  and  alarm  which  pervaded 
and  agitated  the  whole  country  when  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  waged  war  upon  the  people  in  order  to  com- 
pel them  to  submit  to  its  demands  can  not  yet  be  forgotten. 
The  ruthless  and  unsparing  temper  with  which  whole  cities 
and  communities  were  oppressed,  individuals  impoverished 
and  ruined,  and  a  scene  of  cheerful  prosperity  suddenly 
changed  into  one  of  gloom  and  despondency  ought  to  be 
indelibly  impressed  on  the  memory  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  If  such  was  its  power  in  a  time  of  peace, 
what  would  it  not  have  been  in  a  season  of  war,  with  an 
enemy  at  your  doors?  No  nation  but  the  freemen  of  the 
United  States  could  have  come  out  victorious  from  such  a 
contest;  yet,  if  you  had  not  conquered,  the  Government 


5^^  Andrew  Jackson 

would  have  passed  from  the  hands  of  the  many  to  the  hands 
of  the  few,  and  this  organized  money  power  from  its  secret 
conclave  would  have  dictated  the  choice  of  your  highest 
officers  and  compelled  you  to  make  peace  or  war.  as  best 
suited  their  own  wishes.  The  forms  of  your  Government 
might  for  a  time  have  remained,  but  its  living  spirit  would 
have  departed  from  it. 

The  distress  and  sufferings  inflicted  on  the  people  by  the 
bank  are  some  of  the  fruits  of  that  system  of  policy  which 
is  continually  striving  to  enlarge  the  authority  of  the  Fed- 
eral Government  beyond  the  limits  fixed  by  the  Constitu- 
tion. The  powers  enumerated  in  that  instrument  do  not 
confer  on  Congress  the  right  to  establish  such  a  corporation 
as  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  the  evil  consequences 
which  followed  may  warn  us  of  the  danger  of  departing 
from  the  true  rule  of  construction  and  of  permitting  tem- 
porary circumstances  or  the  hope  of  better  promoting  the 
public  welfare  to  influence  in  any  degree  our  decisions  upon 
the  extent  of  the  authority  of  the  General  Government. 
Let  us  abide  by  the  Constitution  as  it  is  written,  or  amend 
it  in  the  constitutional  mode  if  it  is  found  to  be  defective. 

The  severe  lessons  of  experience  will,  I  doubt  not,  be 
sufficient  to  prevent  Congress  from  again  chartering  such 
a  monopoly,  even  if  the  Constitution  did  not  present  an  in- 
superable objection  to  it.  But  you  must  remember,  my  fel- 
low-citizens, that  eternal  vigilance  by  the  people  is  the  price 
of  liberty,  and  that  you  must  pay  the  price  if  you  wish  to  se- 
cure the  blessing.  It  behooves  you,  therefore,  to  be  watch- 
ful in  your  States  as  well  as  in  the  Federal  Government. 
The  power  which  the  moneyed  interest  can  exercise,  when 
concentrated  under  a  single  head  and  with  our  present  sys- 
tem of  currency,  was  sufficiently  demonstrated  in  the  strug- 
gle made  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  Defeated  in 
the  General  Government,  the  same  class  of  intriguers  and 
politicians  will  now  resort  to  the  States  and  endeavor  to 
obtain  there  the  same  organization  which  they  failed  to  per- 
petuate in  the  Union;  and  with  specious  and  deceitful  plans 
of  public  advantages  and  State  interests  and  State  pride 


Farewell   Address  5^^ 

they  will  endeavor  to  establish  in  the  different  States  one 
moneyed  institution  with  overgrown  capital  and  exclusive 
privileges  sufficient  to  enable  it  to  control  the  operations  of 
the  other  banks.  Such  an  institution  will  be  pregnant  with 
the  same  evils  produced  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
although  its  sphere  of  action  is  more  confined,  and  in  the 
State  in  which  it  is  chartered  the  money  power  will  be  able 
to  embody  its  whole  strength  and  to  move  together  with 
undivided  force  to  accomplish  any  object  it  may  wish  to 
attain.  You  have  already  had  abundant  evidence  of^  its 
power  to  inflict  injury  upon  the  agricultural,  mechanical, 
and  laboring  classes  of  society,  and  over  those  whose  en- 
gagements in  trade  or  speculation  render  them  dependent  on 
bank  facilities  the  dominion  of  the  State  monopoly  will  be 
absolute  and  their  obedience  unlimited.  With  such  a  bank 
and  a  paper  currency  the  money  power  would  in  a  few  years 
govern  the  State  and  control  its  measures,  and  if  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  States  can  be  induced  to  create  such  estab- 
lishments the  time  will  soon  come  when  it  will  again  take 
the  field  against  the  United  States  and  succeed  in  perfect- 
ing and  perpetuating  its  organization  by  a  charter  from 
Congress. 

It  is  one  of  the  serious  evils  of  our  present  system  of 
banking  that  it  enables  one  class  of  society — and  that  by  no 
means  a  numerous  one — by  its  control  over  the  currency,  to 
act  injuriously  upon  the  interests  of  all  the  others  and  to 
exercise  more  than  its  just  proportion  of  influence  in  politi- 
cal affairs.  The  agricultural,  the  mechanical,  and  the  labor- 
ing classes  have  little  or  no  share  in  the  direction  of  the 
great  moneyed  corporations,  and  from  their  habits  and  the 
nature  of  their  pursuits  they  are  incapable  of  forming  ex- 
tensive combinations  to  act  together  with  united  force. 
Such  concert  of  action  may  sometimes  be  produced  in  a 
single  city  or  in  a  small  district  of  country  by  means  of  per- 
sonal communications  with  each  other,  but  they  have  no 
regular  or  active  correspondence  with  those  who  are  en- 
gaged in  similar  pursuits  in  distant  places ;  they  have  but 
little  patronage  to  give  to  the  press,  and  exercise  but  a  small 


512  Andrew  Jackson 

share  of  influence  over  it ;  they  have  no  crowd  of  dependents 
about  them  who  hope  to  grow  rich  without  labor  by  their 
countenance  and  favor,  and  who  are  therefore  always  ready 
to  execute  their  wishes.  The  planter,  the  farmer,  the  me- 
chanic, and  the  laborer  all  know  that  their  success  depends 
upon  their  own  industry  and  economy,  and  that  they  must 
not  expect  to  become  suddenly  rich  by  the  fruits  of  their 
toil.  Yet  these  classes  of  society  form  the  great  body  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States ;  they  are  the  bone  and  sinew  of 
the  country — men  who  love  liberty  and  desire  nothing  but 
equal  rights  and  equal  laws,  and  who,  moreover,  hold  the 
great  mass  of  our  national  wealth,  although  it  is  distributed 
in  moderate  amounts  among  the  millions  of  freemen  who 
possess  it.  But  with  overwhelming  numbers  and  wealth  on 
their  side  they  are  in  constant  danger  of  losing  their  fair 
influence  in  the  Government,  and  with  difficulty  maintain 
their  just  rights  against  the  incessant  efforts  daily  made  to 
encroach  upon  them.  The  mischief  springs  from  the  power 
which  the  moneyed  interest  derives  from  a  paper  currency 
which  they  are  able  to  control,  from  the  multitude  of  cor- 
porations with  exclusive  privileges  which  they  have  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  in  the  different  States,  and  which  are 
employed  altogether  for  their  benefit;  and  unless  you  be- 
come more  watchful  in  your  States  and  check  this  spirit  of 
monopoly  and  thirst  for  exclusive  privileges  you  will  in  the 
end  find  that  the  most  important  powers  of  Government 
have  been  given  or  bartered  away,  and  the  control  over  your 
dearest  interests  has  passed  into  the  hands  of  these  cor- 
porations. 

The  paper-money  system  and  its  natural  associations — 
monopoly  and  exclusive  privileges — have  already  struck 
their  roots  too  deep  in  the  soil,  and  it  will  require  all  your 
efforts  to  check  its  further  growth  and  to  eradicate  the  evil. 
The  men  who  profit  by  the  abuses  and  desire  to  perpetuate 
them  will  continue  to  besiege  the  halls  of  legislation  in  the 
General  Government  as  well  as  in  the  States,  and  will  seek 
by  every  artifice  to  mislead  and  deceive  the  public  servants. 
It  is  to  yourselves  that  you  must  look  for  safety  and  the 


Farewell  Address  5^3 

means  of  guarding  and  perpetuating  your  free  institutions. 
In  your  hands  is  rightfully  placed  the  sovereignty  of  the 
country,  and  to  you  everyone  placed  in  authority  is  ulti- 
mately responsible.  It  is  always  in  your  power  to  see  that 
the  wishes  of  the  people  are  carried  into  faithful  execution, 
and  their  will,  when  once  made  known,  must  sooner  or  later 
be  obeyed ;  and  while  the  people  remain,  as  I  trust  they  ever 
will,  uncorrupted  and  incorruptible,  and  continue  watchful 
and  jealous  of  their  rights,  the  Government  is  safe,  and  the 
cause  of  freedom  will  continue  to  triumph  over  all  its 
enemies. 

But  it  will  require  steady  and  persevering  exertions  on 
your  part  to  rid  yourselves  of  the  iniquities  and  mischiefs  of 
the  paper  system  and  to  check  the  spirit  of  monopoly  and 
other  abuses  which  have  sprung  up  with  it,  and  of  which  it  is 
the  main  support.  So  many  interests  are  united  to  resist  all 
reform  on  this  subject  that  you  must  not  hope  the  conflict 
will  be  a  short  one  nor  success  easy.  My  humble  efforts 
have  not  been  spared  during  my  administration  of  the  Gov- 
ernment to  restore  the  constitutional  currency  of  gold  and 
silver,  and  something,  I  trust,  has  been  done  toward  the 
accomplishment  of  this  most  desirable  object;  but  enough 
yet  remains  to  require  all  your  energy  and  perseverance. 
The  power,  however,  is  in  your  hands,  and  the  remedy  must 
and  wall  be  applied  if  you  determine  upon  it. 

While  I  am  thus  endeavoring  to  press  upon  your  atten- 
tion the  principles  which  I  deem  of  vital  importance  in  the 
domestic  concerns  of  the  country,  I  ought  not  to  pass  over 
without  notice  the  important  considerations  which  should 
govern  your  policy  toward  foreign  powers.  It  is  unques- 
tionably our  true  interest  to  cultivate  the  most  friendly 
understanding  with  every  nation  and  to  avoid  by  every 
honorable  means  the  calamities  of  war,  and  we  shall  best 
attain  this  object  by  frankness  and  sincerity  in  our  foreign 
intercourse,  by  the  prompt  and  faithful  execution  of 
treaties,  and  by  justice  and  impartiality  in  our  conduct  to  all. 
But  no  nation,  however  desirous  of  peace,  can  hope  to  es- 
cape occasional  collisions  with  other  powers,  and  the  sound- 


5H  Andrew  Jackson 

est  dictates  of  policy  require  that  we  should  place  ourselves 
in  a  condition  to  assert  our  rights  if  a  resort  to  force  should 
ever  become  necessary.  Our  local  situation,  our  long  line 
of  seacoast,  indented  by  numerous  bays,  with  deep  rivers 
opening  into  the  interior,  as  well  as  our  extended  and  still 
increasing  commerce,  point  to  the  Navy  as  our  natural 
means  of  defense.  It  will  in  the  end  be  found  to  be  the 
cheapest  and  most  effectual,  and  now  is  the  time,  in  a  season 
of  peace  and  with  an  overflowing  revenue,  that  we  can  year 
after  year  add  to  its  strength  without  increasing  the  burdens 
of  the  people.  It  is  your  true  policy,  for  your  Navy  will 
not  only  protect  your  rich  and  flourishing  commerce  in  dis- 
tant seas,  but  will  enable  you  to  reach  and  annoy  the  enemy 
and  will  give  to  defense  its  greatest  efficiency  by  meeting 
danger  at  a  distance  from  home.  It  is  impossible  by  any 
line  of  fortifications  to  guard  every  point  from  attack 
against  a  hostile  force  advancing  from  the  ocean  and  select- 
ing its  object,  but  they  are  indispensable  to  protect  cities 
from  bombardment,  dockyards  and  naval  arsenals  from  de- 
struction, to  give  shelter  to  merchant  vessels  in  time  of  war 
and  to  single  ships  or  weaker  squadrons  when  pressed  by 
superior  force.  Fortifications  of  this  description  can  not 
be  too  soon  completed  and  armed  and  placed  in  a  condition 
of  the  most  perfect  preparation.  The  abundant  means  we 
now  possess  can  not  be  applied  in  any  manner  more  useful 
to  the  country,  and  when  this  is  done  and  our  naval  force 
sufficiently  strengthened  and  our  militia  armed  we  need  not 
fear  that  any  nation  will  wantonly  insult  us  or  needlessly 
provoke  hostilities.  We  shall  more  certainly  preserve  peace 
when  it  is  well  understood  that  we  are  prepared  for  war. 

In  presenting  to  you,  my  fellow-citizens,  these  parting 
counsels,  I  have  brought  before  you  the  leading  principles 
upon  which  I  endeavored  to  administer  the  Government  in 
the  high  office  with  which  you  twice  honored  me.  Know- 
ing that  the  path  of  freedom  is  continually  beset  by  enemies 
who  often  assume  the  disguise  of  friends,  I  have  devoted 
the  last  hours  of  my  public  life  to  warn  you  of  the  dangers. 
The  progress  of  the  United  States  under  our  free  and  happy 


Farewell  Address  5^5 

institutions  has  surpassed  the  most  sanguine  hopes  of  the 
founders  of  the  Repubhc.  Our  growth  has  been  rapid  be- 
yond all  former  example  in  numbers,  in  wealth,  in  knowl- 
edge, and  all  the  useful  arts  which  contribute  to  the  com- 
forts and  convenience  of  man,  and  from  the  earliest  ages  of 
history  to  the  present  day  there  never  have  been  thirteen 
millions  of  people  associated  in  one  political  body  who  en- 
joyed so  much  freedom  and  happiness  as  the  people  of  these 
United  States,  You  have  no  longer  any  cause  to  fear  dan- 
ger from  abroad ;  your  strength  and  power  are  well  known 
throughout  the  civilized  world,  as  well  as  the  high  and  gal- 
lant bearing  of  your  sons.  It  is  from  within,  among  your- 
selves— from  cupidity,  from  corruption,  from  disappointed 
ambition  and  inordinate  thirst  for  power — that  factions  will 
be  formed  and  liberty  endangered.  It  is  against  such  de- 
signs, whatever  disguise  the  actors  may  assume,  that  you 
have  especially  to  g^iard  yourselves.  You  have  the  highest 
of  human  trusts  committed  to  your  care.  Providence  has 
showered  on  this  favored  land  blessings  without  number, 
and  has  chosen  you  as  the  guardians  of  freedom,  to  preserve 
it  for  the  benefit  of  the  human  race.  May  He  who  holds  in 
His  hands  the  destinies  of  nations  make  you  worthy  of  the 
favors  He  has  bestowed  and  enable  you,  with  pure  hearts 
and  pure  hands  and  sleepless  vigilance,  to  guard  and  defend 
to  the  end  of  time  the  great  charge  He  has  committed  to 
your  keeping. 

My  own  race  is  nearly  run;  advanced  age  and  failing 
health  warn  me  that  before  long  I  must  pass  beyond  the 
reach  of  human  events  and  cease  to  feel  the  vicissitudes  of 
human  affairs.  I  thank  God  that  my  life  has  been  spent 
in  a  land  of  liberty  and  that  He  has  given  me  a  heart  to  love 
my  country  with  the  affection  of  a  son.  And  filled  with 
gratitude  for  your  constant  and  unwavering  kindness,  I 
bid  you  a  last  and  affectionate  farewell. 


Bibliography. 


I.  Documentary. 

There  is  no  complete  collection  of  Jackson's  writings ;  his 
State  Papers  form  part  of  Volumes  II  and  III  of  Richard- 
son's Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents.  There  are 
about  fifty  Jackson  letters  in  the  Library  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Historical  Society,  Philadelphia;  a  larger  number  in 
the  Library  of  Congress. 

The  Congressional  Debates,  1825-1837;  Benton's 
Abridgment  of  Debates  in  Congress,  and  the  Documents 
(House  and  Senate,  XlXth-XXVth  Congresses,  see  Mc- 
Kee's  Indexes),  contain  the  official  speech  and  comment 
bearing  directly  on  Jackson's  administrations.  Benton  is 
careful  to  include  all  that  is  essentially  defensive  of  Jackson. 
The  great  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  during  Jackson's 
administrations  are  reported  by  Peters,  i  828-1 842. 

Of  a  documentary  nature  is  much  of  the  writings 
(speeches)  of  Webster,  Clay,  Calhoun,  and  Benton,  during 
the  Jackson  period ;  Benton's  Thirty  Years'  Viezu  contains 
excerpts  from  lesser  men  who  attacked  or  defended  Jackson. 

II.  Biographical. 

William  Graham  Sumner's  Andrew  Jackson,  in  the 
American  Statesman  Series,  is  an  admirable  biography  and 
contains  an  ample  bibliography  of  writings  down  to  1822; 
James  Parton's  Life  of  Jackson,  3  Vols.,  with  bibliog- 
raphy; Joseph  M.  Rogers's  Thomas  H.  Benton,  in  the 
American  Crisis  Biographies,  and  the  same  author's  The 
True  Henry  Clay,  contain  much  about  Jackson.  See  also 
the  biographical  list  for  Clay,  Webster,  Calhoun,  and 
Monroe  of  the  present  series.  No  public  man  of  his  time 
was  more  viciously  attacked  or  more  ardently  defended  than 
Jackson. 

III.  Historical. 

For  the  general  history  of  the  country  during  Jackson's 
public  career  see  Schouler's  History  of  the  United  States, 

S17 


5i8  Andrew  Jackson 

III  and  IV;  Von  Holst's  Constitutional  History  of  the 
United  States,  1828-1846;  McMasters's  History  of  the 
People  of  the  United  States,  V  and  VI ;  Thorpe's  Consti- 
tutional History  of  the  United  States,  II ;  Thorpe's  Con- 
stitutional History  of  the  American  People,  I,  61,  137,  232, 
233;  R.  T,  Stevenson's  The  Growth  of  the  Nation,  1809- 
1837,  chapters  x-xiv;  Thorpe's  Civil  War:  the  National 
View,  chapters  i,  ii,  iii;  Alexander  Johnston's  critical 
papers  on  American  history  during  the  Jackson  period,  in 
Lalor's  Cyclopccdia;  and  the  bibhography  for  Jackson  in 
Winsor's  Narrative  and  Critical  History,  VII,  348-349. 
Of  special  value  is  William  McDonald's  Jacksonian 
Democracy. 

For  the  history  of  the  political  issues  of  the  time,  see  the 
bibliography  already  given  in  the  volumes  of  the  present 
series  devoted  to  Monroe,  Clay,  Webster,  and  Calhoun: 
e.  g.,  Tariff,  Nullification,  the  Bank,  etc. 

George  Tucker's  History  of  the  United  States,  IV, 
chapter  xxvi;  R.  McK.  Ormsby's  Whig  Party,  chapters 
xvii,  xviii;  H.  A.  Wise's  Seven  Decades;  Martin  Van 
Buren's  Inquiry  into  Political  Parties;  Amos  Kendall's 
Autobiography;  Josiah  Quincy's  Figures  of  the  Past;  W. 
L.  Royall's  Andrew  Jackson  and  the  Bonk ;  Samuel  Ty- 
ler's Memoir  of  Roger  B.  Taney ;  A.  S.  Bolles's  Financial 
History  of  the  United  States,  II ;  Joseph  Story's  Com- 
mentaries, Sees.  1374-1399;  J.  A.  Hamilton's  Reminis- 
cences, chapters  vi-viii ;  D.  F.  Houston's  Critical  Study  of 
Nullification  {Harvard  Historical  Studies,  III)  ;  A.  H. 
Stephens's  Constitutional  Viezv  of  the  War  Betzveen  the 
States;  J.  D.  Goss's  History  of  Tariff  Administration  {Co- 
lumbia College  Studies,  I)  ;  F.  W.  Taussig's  History  of  the 
Tariff;  Taussig's  State  Papers  and  Speeches  on  the  Tariff; 
Goddard's  Bank  of  the  United  States;  W.  M.  Gouge's 
Short  History  of  Money  and  Banking;  Hildreth's  Banks, 
Banking,  and  Paper  Currency;  E.  G.  Bourne's  Surplus 
Revenue  of  18 ^y;  W.  G.  Sumner's  American  Currency; 
E.  R.  Johnson's  River  and  Harbor  Bills  {Annals  of  the 
American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science.  II,  782)  ; 
E.  C.  Mason's  Veto  Power;  S.  Sato's  Land  Question  {J. 
H.  U.  Studies,  IV,  Nos.  7-9)  ;  Van  Santvoord's  Chief 
Justices;  Sargent's  Public  Men  and  Events;  J.  L.  Bishop's 


Bibliography  5  ^  9 

History  of  American  Manufactures;  G.  T.  Curtis's  James 
Buchanan;  C.  F.Dunbar's  Laivs  Relating  to  Finance; 
John  Quincy  Adams's  Memoirs;  Hugh  McCullough's 
Men  and  Measures  of  Half  a  Century;  S.  G.  Goodrich's 
Recollections  of  a  Lifetime;  A.  M.  McLaughlin's  Lezvis 
Cass;  Seba  Smith's  Letters  of  Major  Jack  Downing;  E. 
M,  Shephard's  Martin  Van  Buren ;  A.  D.  Morse's  Politi- 
cal Influence  of  Andreiv  Jackson  (Political  Science  Quar- 
terly, I,  153-162)  ;  J.  B.  Hammond's  History  of  Political 
Parties  in  the  State  of  Nezv  York,  1 789-1840,  2  Vols.; 
Greeley's  American  Conflict,  I. 

For  an  extended  bibliography  of  the  Jackson  period  see 
Selected  Bibliography  and  Guide,  Part  HI,  by  Francis  N. 
Thorpe,  Barrie  &  Sons,  Philadelphia,  1908. 


Index 


Abolition.     See  Slavery. 

Adams,  John,  French  criticisms, 
414. 

Adrianople,  Treaty  of,  88. 

Agriculture,  unaffected  by  tariff,  45  ; 
in  relation  to  commerce  and  man- 
ufacture, 47  ;  effects  of  tariff"  on 
agricultural  products,  116;  condi- 
tions, 133  ;  advantageous  effects 
of  Canadian  trade  on,  136;  pros- 
perity in  South  Carolina,  221  ; 
general  prosperous  conditions, 
282,  361,  400;  power  of  Congress 
over  French  agricultural  interests, 
373 ;  treaty  stipulations  provid- 
ing aid  for  Indians,  385  ;  policies 
for  general  benefit,  419  ;  effects  of 
excessive  tariff  upon,  503. 

Alabama,  attempt  of  Indians  to 
maintain  independent  government 
in.  57-58 ;  removal  of  Indians, 
no,  112,  147;  Indian  affairs,  114, 
131;  district  courts,  152,  197; 
banking  in,  160;  payment  on  pub- 
lic lands,  316;  indemnification  for 
confiscated  property,  479  ;  tabular 
statistics  for  proposed  distribu- 
tion of  surplus  revenue,  486. 

Algiers,  removal  of  U.  S.  salaried 
consul,  364. 

Aliens,   disqualifications   of,    167. 

Amendment  to  Constitution.  See 
Constitution. 

American  Quarterly  Reviezv,  arti- 
cle on  United  States  Bank,  zyj,- 
274. 

Annuities  paid  to  Indians,  434. 

Anti-nullification  proclamation.  See 
Nullification.         , 

Anti-slavery  movement.  See  Slav- 
ery. 

Antwerp,  bombardment  of,  spolia- 
tion claims,  452. 

Appointment,  powers  of,  under  the 
Constitution,  339,  340  ;  president's 
powers  of,  342  ;  by  president  for 
protection  of  public  property,  343  ; 
by  president,  of  officer  in  custody 
of  public  money,  344.  Sec  also 
Removal. 

Appropriation,  for  pensions,  56 ; 
right  of,  69-71  ;   for  external  im- 


provements, increase  in,  74 ;  pro- 
posed constitutional  amendment, 
y7,  79  ;  connection  with  tariff,  80  ; 
effect  on  public  debt,  81  ;  and 
manufacture,  81  ;  direct,  95  ;  for 
internal  improvements,  95,  97,  98, 
393-396,  464-465  ;  objection  to  lo- 
cal, 100  ;  need  for  Congress  to  ab- 
stain from  unnecessary,  296 ; 
powers  of  Congress,  318;  for  in- 
ternal improvements,  from  pro- 
ceeds of  public  lands,  319;  dispo- 
sition of  revenue  for,  376  ;  by  act 
of  Congress,  necessary  for  pay- 
ment of  claims  of  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  380 ;  by  Congress, 
estimated  (7th  annual  message) 
418;  for  fortifications,  failure  to 
pass  bill,  430 ;  for  navy,  recom- 
mended to  prepare  for  French 
hostility,  449  ;  in  relation  to  taxa- 
tion, 462-463 ;  for  fortifications 
on  seaboard,  479. 

Arbitration  for  South  Carolina  dif- 
ficulties, 213. 

Arbitration  of  boundary  claims. 
See    Boundaries. 

Archives  of  Florida  taken  by  Spain, 
180,  362,  402. 

Argentine  Republic,  U.  S.  claims  in, 
292-293  ;  expected  representation 
in  U.  S.,  366  ;  minister  to  U.  S., 
404. 

Arkansas,  Mexican  boundary  dis- 
pute, 92 ;  tabular  statistics  for 
proposed  distribution  of  surplus 
revenue,   486. 

Armored  vessels.     See  Vessels. 

Army,  condition  of,  54-55,  119,  300, 
384;  organization  of,  194;  discon- 
tinuance of  extra  allowances, 
428 ;  services,  429 ;  duties,  430- 
431;  need  for  enlargement,  478; 
revision   of  pay  suggested,   480. 

Arsenals,  care  of,  119;  equipment 
of  troops  in  public,  in  South  Car- 
olina,  208. 

Arrest,  provisions  for,  in  South 
Carolina,    209. 

Articles  of  Confederation,  Indian 
aft'airs  under,  127-128;  defects  of 
government    under,     2^7 ;     defini- 


S»i 


522 


Index 


tion  of  the  Union  under,  237 ; 
amendment  as  to  land  grants, 
306 ;  Maryland  witholds  consent 
to,  307  ;  not  acceptable  to  States, 
308;  resolutions  of  Congress  on 
ratification  of,  309 ;  signed  by 
Maryland,   310. 

Artillery,  marine  corps  to  be  merged 
in,  61. 

Asia,  commerce  with,   182. 

Atkinson,  Gen.,  leads  troops  against 
Indians,   194. 

Attorney-General,  duties  and  stand- 
ing of,  51-52;  a  cabinet  officer, 
82;  extension  of  duties,  121-122; 
opinions  on  claims  of  Bank  of 
the   United   States  cited,  381. 

Austria,  relations  with  U.  S.,  39, 
361,  402,  452;  treaty  with  U.  S., 
93,  181  ;  commerce  with,  142. 


Bahamas,  erection  of  light-houses 
on,  283. 

Balearic  islands,  duties  on  Ameri- 
can vessels   in   ports,   287. 

Bank  of  the  United  States,  refusal 
to  recharter,  12;  paper  on,  14; 
nullification  speeches,  21  ;  tariff 
bill  speech  in  House,  24 ;  Jack- 
son's attack  on,  _  35;  govern- 
ment debt,  48  ;  expiration  of  char- 
ter, 64,  508-510;  question  of  re- 
charter  of,  82,  123-124,262;  in  re- 
lation to  State  banks,  124;  Jack- 
son's 3d  annual  message,  133; 
veto  of  bill  to  recharter,  154-176; 
4th  annual  message,  177;  surren- 
der of  stock  certificates,  189;  im- 
peachments on  character,  190;  re- 
moval of  public  deposits,  261,  265, 
348,  381  ;  asks  for  new  charter, 
263  ;  substitutes  for,  264 ;  to  be 
abolished,  266  ;  need  for  Congress 
to  plan  substitute,  267  ;  violation 
of  charter,  270  ;  support  of  press, 
272  ;  administration,  273,  277,  278  ; 
State  banks  as  substitutes  for,  278, 
383  ;  expenditures,  274,  275,  276, 
277 ;  5th  annual  message,  282 ; 
French  payments,  284  ;  attempt  to 
influence  elections,  297-298,  350 ; 
influence  on  press,  298 ;  with- 
drawal of  charter,  299  ;  dismissal 
of  Secretary  of  Treasury,  339 ; 
placing  of  public  moneys  in,  345  ; 
sanction  of  president  for  transfer 
of  public  deposits  from,  347  ;  res- 
olutions of  Maine  on  removal  of 
public  deposits  from,  351-352; 
resolutions  of  New  Jersey,  352- 
354;  resolutions  of  Ohio,  354- 
355  ;  results  of  administrative 
power   independent    of    president, 


356;  Jackson's  6th  annual  mes- 
sage, 361  ;  postponement  of  pay- 
ment of  national  debt,  378 ;  re- 
duced finances,  379  ;  retains  divi- 
dends, 379-380;  recommendation 
for  suspension  of  charter,  382 ; 
7th  annual  message,  399  ;  debt  of 
government  to,  owing  to  non-pay- 
ment of  French  claims,  408 ;  re- 
ceipt of  bills  in  payment  of  pub- 
lic revenue  should  be  discontin- 
ued by  Congress,  421-422;  antici- 
pated benefits  on  establishment, 
422-425  ;  attitude  of  the  executive 
against,  426-427  ;  8th  annual  mes- 
sage, 451  ;  evil  effects,  469  ;  advo- 
cates express  distrust  of  State 
banks,  472  ;  failure  to  make  pay- 
ment on  account  of  stock  held  by 
government,  473  ;  expiration  of 
charter,  473-474 ;  probable  at- 
tempts to  re-establish  itself,  511. 

Banks  and  banking,  payments  on 
public  debt,  48 ;  proposition  for 
establishment  of  national  bank, 
64,  466-467 ;  control  should  not 
be  subject  to  political  power,  280; 
reform  of  banking  systems,  383- 
422  ;  efl'ects  of  disposition  of  sur- 
plus revenue  in  banks,  459 ;  ex- 
cessive issues  of  banks,  467,  468; 
legislation  as  to  discontinuance 
of  small  notes,  469  ;  inflated  cred- 
its in  books  of  western  banks, 
470-471  ;  extension  of  credits  in 
relation  to  sales  of  public  lands, 
470-471  ;  legislation  as  to  deposit 
banks,  475  ;  effects  of  Bank  of  the 
United  States  and  paper  currency 
on,  508-510.  See  also,  Bank  of 
the  United  States  ;   State  banks. 

Barbary  Powers,  relations  with  U. 
S.,  40,  364,  404,  455. 

Barton,    ,    U.     S.    minister    to 

France,  recalled  to  U.  S.,  447. 

Beaufort  (S.  C),  port  of  entry,  223. 
jium,  treaty  between  U.  S.  and, 
290,  363-364  ;  U.  S.  relations  with, 
399,  403-404 ;  spoliation  claims, 
452. 

Benton,  T.  H.,  "Thirty  years' 
view"  cited,  16,  35,  66,  154,  200, 
261,    325,    493. 

Bills  of  credit,  emission  by  States 
forbidden,  466. 

Blair,   Gen.,  21. 

Black  Sea,  free  navigation,  39 ; 
American  vessels  excluded  from, 
88;  navigation  of,    182. 

Bogota  (South  America),  confer- 
ence at,  291. 

Bolivia,  conditions,   183-184,  293. 

Boundaries,  treaty  of  ^hent,  37 ; 
question    of    northeastern    bound- 


Inde: 


523 


ary  between  England  and  U.  S., 
90,  136,  178-179,  282-283,  361, 
399,  400-401,  452;  between  U.S. 
and  Mexico,  90,  92,  144,  182,  292, 
36s,  404,  454- 

Bounties,  fishing.  See  Fishing 
bounties. 

Brazil,  relations  with  U.  S.,  41, 
144-145,  292,  364,  404,  452;  con- 
ditions in,  183;  U.  S.,  representa- 
tion in,  366. 

Buenos  Ayres,  U.  S.  relations  with, 
14s,  183,  366. 

Buildings,  officers  in  charge  of,  ap- 
pointed by  president,  343. 


Calhoun,  John  C,  Jackson's  atti- 
tude toward,  13,  14 ;  relations 
with  Jackson,  21  ;  resolutions,  22  ; 
speeches  on  nullification,  27-28 ; 
nullification   leadership,   29. 

Call,  Gov.,  war  with  the  Seminoles, 
476. 

Canada,  commerce  with,   136. 

Canals,  appropriations  for,  70  ;  gov- 
ernment's responsibilities,  76,  79  ; 
Congress  in  relation  to  construc- 
tion of,  97  ;  prospects  of,  in  Cen- 
tral America,  144;  applications 
for  construction  by  government 
not  presented,  395  ;  government 
control  through  appropriations 
for,  465.  See  also,  Louisville  and 
Portland  Canal. 

Canary  Islands,  duties  on  American 
vessels  in   ports,   287. 

Caravans,  internal  trade  by  means 
of,   182. 

Castle  Pinckney,  removal  of  Cus- 
tom-house from  Charleston  to, 
223. 

Census,  Jackson's  ist  annual  mes- 
sage, 63  ;  of  1830,  distribution  of 
surplus  revenue  (tabular  statis- 
tics), 486. 

Central  America,  relations  with,  144, 
182,  292,  404;  conditions  in,  182; 
U.   S.,  representation  in,   366. 

Certificates  unpaid  by  Bank  of 
United   States,   270. 

Charleston  (S.  C),  plans  for  forti- 
fication of,  18,  23  ;  conduct  of 
British  consul  at,  28 ;  prepara- 
tions for  military  defense,  202 ; 
defense  of,  208 ;  removal  of  cus- 
toms-house to  Castle  Pinckney, 
22^  ;  results  of  prevention  of  rev- 
enue laws,  235-236. 

Charters,  renewal  of  bank,  165. 
See  also,  Bank  of  the  United 
States. 

Cherokee  Indians,  58  ;  treaties  with, 
129,    480;    in    Georgia,    133,    147, 


196;  complications  in  delay  in 
removal  of,  385  ;  unprepared  to 
remove  to  western  reservations, 
433;  8th  annual  message,  451; 
peace  maintained,  477. 

Chickasaw  Indians,  removal  to  res- 
ervations, 82,    III,    112,   147. 

Chili,  conditions  in,  144,  183;  U.  S. 
treaty  with,  292 ;  U.  S.  relations 
with,  404. 

Chillicothe,  transfer  of  public  de- 
posits to   state   banks,    347. 

China,  commerce  with,   143. 

Choctaw  Indians,  58 ;  removal  to 
western  reservations,  82,  iii, 
147;  condition  of,    130. 

Cholera,  at  Havana,  289. 

Cincinnati  (O.),  transfer  of  public 
deposits  to   state   banks,    347. 

Circuit  courts,  extension  of,  62-63  5 
lack  of  sufficient  number,  152, 
197  ;  of  U.  S.,  in  relation  to  State 
courts,  229 ;  defect  of  judicial 
system  through  insufficiency  of, 
390.     See  also.  Courts. 

Clay,  Henry,  and  Jackson,  14  ;  com- 
promise tariff  bill,  29  ;  speech  in 
defense  of  Senate  for  its  condem- 
nation of  Jackson,  325  ;  principles 
as  to  deposit  of  public  lands  dis- 
approved by  Ohio,  354. 

Clearances,  Governor  of  South 
Carolina  asks  for  power  to  grant, 
208. 

Cocoa,  forbidden  cargo  to  American 
vessels,  85  ;  reduction  of  duty  on, 
74. 

Coffee,  duty  on,  47,  74 ;  forbidden 
cargo   for   American   vessels,    85. 

Colombia,  Republic  of,  changes  in, 
182  ;  U.  S.,  relations  with,  291  ; 
tariff  concessions,  144;  probable 
reunion  of  New  Granada,  Ven- 
ezuela  and   Ecuador,   365. 

Colonial  trade,  English.  See  Eng- 
land. 

Columbia  (S.  C),  Ordinance  of 
Nullification  passed,  200-201  ;  leg- 
islature assemble  at  207 ;  con- 
vention of  November  (1832),  209, 
210. 

Commerce  with  France,  37-38,  138- 
139;  with  Spain,  38;  with  Aus- 
tria, 39,  93  ;  effect  of  opening  of 
Black  Sea,  39 ;  protection  of 
Pacific,  40  ;  with  Peru,  41  ;  condi- 
tions of,  45-46,  136,  177;  protec- 
tion by  warships,  60  ;  at  time  of 
2d  annual  message,  82 ;  with 
England,  84-85  ;  Danish  indem- 
nity for  spoliations  upon  U.  S., 
89-90;  with  Mexico,  90,  144;  for- 
eign, 93,  134,  142-145,  362;  in- 
ternal     improvements      attendant 


,?^^ 


524 


Index 


on,  94-95  ;  impetus  to,  by  internal 
improvements,  104;  effects  of  tar- 
iff on,  115;  protection  of,  119, 
141;  with  the  Indians,  125-126; 
with  the  Orient,  133,  182;  pros- 
perity, 178,  282,  400,  452,  495; 
with  Russia,  181  ;  treaty  with 
Russia,  286 ;  403 ;  effects  of 
treaty  with  Turkey  in,  181  ;  with 
Turkey,  364 ;  effects  of  strug- 
gle in  Mexico,  182;  effect  of 
South  American  conditions  on, 
183 ;  beneficial  effects  in  fi- 
nances, 184;  navy  inadequate  to 
protection  of,  196,  396,  436;  of 
South  Carolina  to  be  free  from 
federal  government's  interven- 
tion, 2g6,  233  ;  tariff  on,  declared 
unconstitutional,  232  ;  internal,  in 
relation  to  banking,  279  ;  treaties 
with  Muscat  and  Siam,  455  ;  with 
Cuba  and  Puerto  Rico,  288 ;  U. 
S.  and  Belgium,  290 ;  with  Island 
of  St.  Croix,  290 ;  relation  of 
consular  service  to,  293 ;  treaty 
between  Belgium  and  U.  S.,  363- 
364 ;  between  U.  S.  and  Ven- 
ezuela, importance  of,  365 ; 
French  aggressions  upon  Ameri- 
can, 366 ;  tariff  negotiations 
between  U.  S.  and  France,  368, 
369 ;  improvements  in  harbors, 
etc.,  entailed  by  increase  in,  397  ; 
U.  S.  with  Portugal,  401  ;  with 
Cuba,  402 ;  with  Holland  and  Bel- 
gium, 403-404 ;  policies  for  gen- 
eral benefit,  419 ;  interdiction  of 
French  as  retaliatory  measure, 
448 ;  with  West  Indies,  protec- 
tion by  armored  vessels,  481. 
See  also,  Spoliation  claims ;  Tar- 
iff. 

Commissioner  of  General  Land  Of- 
fice,  report  of,  cited,    119. 

Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs, 
measures  for  protection  of  Indi- 
ans, 480. 

Commissioners  of  Loans,  offices  not 
needed  after  extinction  of  public 
debt,  421. 

Committee  of  Ways  and  Means, 
safety  of  public  deposits,  299. 
See  also.  Deposits,  Public. 

Companies.     See  Corporations. 

Congress,  knowledge  of  Jackson's 
nullification  views,  17;  sanction 
for  nullification  proclamation,  20  ; 
should  prevent  smuggling,  51  ; 
legislation  on  imprisonment  for 
debt,  52 ;  legislation  on  punish- 
ment for  fraud,  53  ;  act  to  reduce 
and  fix  military  establishment, 
54 ;  opens  ports  to  British  ves- 
sels,   87 ;    and    internal    improve- 


ments, 97,  105,  192,  393-396;  and 
Indian  affairs,  114,  126-128,  130, 
385;  support  of  navy,  119;  atti- 
tude toward  District  of  Columbia, 
122,  166,  173;  power  to  establish 
banks,  165,  166,  168;  exclusive 
right  to  declare  war,  130-131  ; 
powers  of,  in  relation  to  monopo- 
lies, 167;  in  relation  to  currency, 
169-170;  large  appropriations  re- 
sulting in  increased  expenditure, 
184-185  ;  notification  as  to  viola- 
tion of  revenue  laws,  189;  atti- 
tude toward  South  Carolina's  op- 
position, 201  ;  tariff  legislation 
annulled  by  South  Carolina,  204 ; 
South  Carolina's  aggressions  on, 
212;  tariff  legislation,  218;  tariff 
legislation  in  Cuba  and  Puerto 
Rico,  362,  402 ;  power  toward 
proposing  amendments,  213  ;  leg- 
islative powers,  222 ;  and  nullifi- 
cation proclamation,  232,  235, 
242,  243  ;  relations  to  States,  Ar- 
ticles of  Confederation,  237 ; 
powers,  242,  243,  327 ;  powers 
to  raise  revenue,  240,  241  ; 
limitation  of  power  in  calling 
conventions,  249 ;  attitude  toward 
repeal  of  revenue  laws,  249  ;  man- 
agement of  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  265,  267 ;  relations  with 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  421- 
422,  473,  474-475,  510;  legislation 
as  to  French  payments,  283-284, 
286 ;  legislation  as  to  duties  on 
tonnage  of  Spanish  ships,  287, 
288 ;  legislation  as  to  revenue 
system,  295  ;  should  abstain  from 
unnecessary  appropriations,  296 ; 
on  safety  of  public  deposits,  299  ; 
provisions  for  public  deposits, 
344,  383,  426-428  ;  instructions  as 
to  removal  of  public  deposits, 
352-355 ;  and  disposal  of  public 
lands,  307,  311,  312,  354;  reduc- 
tion in  price  of  public  lands,  322  ; 
resolutions  as  to  ratification  of 
Articles  of  Confederation,  308- 
309 ;  urges  States  to  cede  to  gov- 
ernment, 310  ;  violation  of  origi- 
nal pledge  as  to  State  land  pay- 
ments, 317;  appropriation  of  U. 
S.  moneys,  318;  reductions  in 
revenue  by,  causing  surplus  in 
Treasury,  319;  local  taxation 
should  not  be  vested  in,  321  ; 
powers  of  removal,  340,  34',  342; 
powers  of  appointment,  342,  344 ; 
relations  to  executive,  343 ;  ap- 
propriations, 380,  387 ;  and 
French  spoliation  claims,  373- 
375.  376.  406-411.  413.  414;  ex- 
ception   to    president's    messages. 


Index 


S^S 


414-415;  provisions  for  increase 
of  navy,  388 ;  establishment  of 
circuit  courts,  390  ;  without  pow- 
er to  construct  roads  within 
State  limits  under  Constitution, 
395 ;  acts  improving  condition  of 
army,  429 ;  legislation  for  secur- 
ing use  of  railroads  to  Post  Office 
department,  438 ;  suppression  of 
anti-slavery  feeling,  439 ;  con- 
stitutional amendment  urged,  440, 
442,  469  ;  acknowledgment  of  in- 
dependence of  Texas,  487,  489 ; 
not  empowered  to  establish  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  510;  Jour- 
nals: Maryland's  objection  to 
Articles  of  Confederation,  307 ; 
validity  of  legislation,  499  ;  legis- 
lation as  to  compensation  for  vol- 
unteers, 478;  of  1789,  status  of 
Secretary  of  Treasury,  342 ;  dis- 
tribution of  surplus  revenue,  see 
Revenue,  Surplus. 

Connecticut,  cessions  of  public 
lands,  311;  tabular  statistics  for 
proposed  distribution  of  surplus 
revenue,  486. 

Constitution,  amendment  proposed 
with  regard  to  appropriations,  77, 
79,  80  ;  amendment  as  to  internal 
improvements,  193,  194;  amend- 
ment proposed  with  regard  to 
presidential  elections,  42-44,  49, 
107-110,  151,  304,  440,  484; 
amendment  as  to  pension  law,  55  ; 
amendment  for  disposition  of 
surplus  revenue,  68,  213,  465 ; 
provisions  as  to  confederacies, 
57 ;  as  to  disposal  of  public  lands, 
311,  3^7;  attitude  of  government 
toward  internal  improvements, 
391-394;  appropriations  for  in- 
ternal improvements,  396 ;  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  510;  cus- 
tody of  public  money,  343,  344 ; 
provisions  as  to  currency,  280, 
469,  505  ;  accumulation  and  dis- 
tribution of  revenue,  241-244, 
320;  revenue  laws,  238;  right  of 
delegates  to  Congress  to  raise 
revenue,  240 ;  proposed  legisla- 
tion for  distribution  of  proceeds 
from  public  lands  opposed  to, 
323  ;  president  charged  with  viola- 
tion of,  325,  326.  332,  334,  338,  356, 
358 ;  president's  responsibilities 
under,  328-329  ;  impeachment  un- 
der, 332-337  ;  powers  of  president, 

339,  347;  of  Senate,  329,  330; 
power  to  recognize  new  State, 
489 ;  powers  of  appointment,  339- 

340,  341,  342,  344;  powers  of  re- 
moval, 351  ;  definition  of  powers, 
327,   330 ;  powers  overstepped  by 


government,  502 ;  value  of,  239, 
496,  500  ;  violated  by  nullification 
act,  235,  244;  U.  S.  government 
under,  245  ;  position  of  States  un- 
der, 247,  248 ;  equality  of  taxa- 
tion, 461. 

Consular  system,  revision  recom- 
mended, 146,  293 ;  appointment 
of  consul  to  Buenos  Ayres,  364, 
366. 

Contraband  of  war,  Spanish  accu- 
sations of  American  trade  in,  140. 

Convention  of  1783,  monetary  pro- 
visions,   466. 

Convention  of  states,  request  for, 
by    South   Carolina,   250. 

Copyright,  growth  of  laws,  167. 

Corporations,  connection  with  in- 
ternal improvements,  73  ;  govern- 
ment as  stockholder  in,  96,  97, 
189  ;  evil  effects  on  financial  con- 
ditions, 423-424 ;  carriage  of  U. 
S.  mails  on  railroads  constructed 
by,  438 ;  power  of  Congress  to 
grant  charters  to,  forbidden,  466  ; 
desire  of  high  tariff  by,  504 ; 
power  over  agricultural  laboring 
and  mechanical  classes,  511. 

Corruption,  possibilities  of,  in  pres- 
idential elections,  43-44.  See 
also,    Elections. 

Cotton,  forbidden  cargo  to  Ameri- 
can vessels,  85  ;  reductions  on, 
116,  138;  French  tariff  on  Ameri- 
can, 369. 

Courts  of  law,  of  U.  S.,  in  rela- 
tion to  revenue  laws,  226 ;  of 
South  Carolina,  as  opposed  to 
U.  S.,  208;  of  U.  S.,  jurisdiction, 
224 ;  judgment  as  to  seizures, 
225  ;  redress  for  sufferers 
through  disobedience  to  nullifi- 
cation ordinances,  229 ;  powers 
under  the  Constitution,  _  327. 
See  also,  Circuit  courts ;  District 
courts ;    State    courts. 

Crawford,  —  Secretary  of  Treas- 
ury, 266. 

Credit  system,  prevention  of  ex- 
tension,  471. 

Creek  Indians,  58 ;  arrangements 
for  removal,  385  ;  condition  (8th 
annual  message),  451  ;  war  with, 
475-477- 

Cuba,  duties  on  American  vessels  in 
ports,  288,  362 ;  regulation  of  U. 
S.    commerce,    402. 

Cumberland  road,  construction  of, 
69-70 ;  legislation  on,  71  ;  com- 
plication, in  connection  with,  79 ; 
appropriation   for,   394. 

Currency.  See  Banks  and  Bank- 
ing ;    Money. 

Customs.     See  Tariff. 


526 


Index 


Debt  of  Post  Office  department,  pay- 
ment, 437- 

Debt,  Public,  reduction  of,  48;  so- 
cial and  moral  effects,  52 ;  pay- 
ment, 74,  Td,  98,  102,  107,  115, 
118,  149,  177,  185,  190,  293,  294, 
296,  376,  399.  418,  419,  504;  pub- 
lic funds  as  payment,  99 ;  effect 
of  appropriation  on,  81  ;  state  of, 
168;  relation  to  tariff,  188,  377; 
relation  to  revenue,  221,  465 ; 
public  deposit  to  be  asked  for, 
262 ;  in  relation  to  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  269,  270  ;  proceeds 
of  public  lands  to  go  to  pay- 
ment of,  313,  315;  reduction  in 
price  of  public  lands  on  payment 
of,  2,22  ;  postponement  of  payment 
through  interference  of  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  378 ;  need 
of  Sinking  Fund  and  Commis- 
sioners of  Loans  offices  abolished 
by  extinction  of,  421. 

Debtors,  Attorney-General's  duties 
toward,  122;  lenient  policy  to- 
ward,   150. 

Decatur,  Commodore,  recapture  of 
Philadelphia,  64. 

Defense.     See  Fortifications. 

Delaware,  taxation  in  relation  to 
revenue,  461  ;  tabular  statistics 
for  proposed  distribution  of  sur- 
plus revenue,  486. 

Denmark,  relations  with  U.  S.,  40, 
139,  289-290,  362,  402,  452;  in- 
demnity claims,   89-90,   135,    181. 

Deposits,  Public,  in  state  banks, 
279,  383,  455-456;  removal  from 
Bank  of  United  States,  ztt,  282, 
298,  299,  300,  345.  346,  381,  427, 
472 ;  not  removed  from  Bank  of 
United  States  by  Secretary  of 
Treasury,  339 ;  president's  sanc- 
tion for  transfer  from  Bank  of 
United  States,  347,  348  ;  arrange- 
ments to  place  them  in  safe  insti- 
tutions by  newly  appointed  Secre- 
tary of  Treasury,  348 ;  resolu- 
tions of  Maine  on  removal  from 
Bank  of  United  States,  351-352; 
resolutions  of  New  Jersey,  352- 
354;  resolutions  of  Ohio,  354- 
355  ;  legislation  on  transfer  of, 
455-456,  458,  459-  460,  461. 

Despotism  in  South  Carolina,  2(). 

District  courts,  distribution  of,  152; 
in  relation  to  circuit  courts,  197. 
See  also,  Circuit  courts ;  Courts 
of  law. 

District  of  Columbia,  government, 
133;  conditions,  151-152,  165; 
powers  of  Congress  over,  166, 
173;  lack  of  attention  from  Con- 
gress,   122-123;    laws   for   punish- 


ment of  fraud,  197;  pecuniary  de- 
pression, 442 ;  need  of  uniformity 
in  laws,  484. 

Documents  of  French  spoliation 
claims,   285. 

Dodge,  Col.,  in  action  against  the 
Indians,  384. 

Drayton,  Col.,  19,  25. 

Duty.    See  Tariff. 

East,  The,  financial  conditions 
eased  by  reductions  in  tariff,  324. 

East  Indies,  commerce  with,  143. 

Eastern  States,  embargo  and  non- 
intercourse   law,    236. 

Ecuador,  relations  with  U.  S.,  291  ; 
reunion  with  New  Granada  and 
Venezuela,  365  ;  acknowledgment 
of  independence  by   U.   S.,  490. 

Education,  Indian,  plans  for,  434. 

Elections,  reform,  33  ;  of  president 
and  vice-president  by  direct  popu- 
lar vote,  42-44,  82,  107-110,  151, 
197.  304,  390-391,  440,  441,  451. 
484 ;  popular,  basis  of  U.  S.  gov- 
ernment, 244 ;  electoral  vote  for 
president  (tabular  statistics),  486  ; 
government's  voice  in  State,  96 ; 
interference  of  Bank  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  in,  268,  297-298,  383 ; 
franchise  in  relation  to  bank  con- 
trol, 281. 

Embargo  and  non-intercourse  law 
in   Eastern   States,  236. 

Emigration  of  Indians,  59 ;  public 
lands  open  to,  471.  See  also, 
Indians. 

Engineer  Corps,  enlargement  to  cor- 
respond with  increasing  duties, 
429-430,  479  ;  change  in  organiza- 
tion   advised,    385. 

England,  relations  with  U.  S.,  36- 
37.  137-138,  179-180;  commerce 
with,  82,  84,  85,  86,  87,  92  ;  trade 
between  colonies  and  U.  S.,  136; 
indemnity  claims,  135  ;  northeast- 
ern boundary  question,  90,  136- 
137,  269,  282-283,  361,  399,  400- 
401,  452  ;  negotiations  for  light- 
houses in  Bahamas,  2S3. 

Excise   law   in    Pennsylvania,   236. 

Executive  Department,  custody  of 
public  money,  344 ;  Senate  as- 
sumes right  to  interfere  with,  ex- 
ecutive power,  349.  350. 

Expenditures.     See  Finances. 

Expunging  resolution,  protest  on 
the,  325-360. 

Farewell     Address,     Jackson's,     14, 

493-515. 
Falkland    Islands,    hostilities    from 

Buenos  Ayres  at,  145,  293. 
Federalist  historians,  place  of,   11. 


Index 


527 


Finances  conditions  of,  48,  148-149, 
177,  184,  293-295,  376-378,  41S- 
428,  455-475  ;  conditions  with 
abolishment  of  Bank  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  266  ;  public  funds  for 
public  debt,  99 ;  for  internal  im- 
provements, loi  ;  receipts  in 
Treasury,  118-119;  disposition  of 
public  funds,  177;  protection  of 
public  moneys  against  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  281  ;  public 
revenue  and  expenditure,  282. 
See  also,  Bank  of  the  United 
States  ;  Banks  and  banking  ;  Debt, 
Public  ;  Money  ;  Treasury. 

Fisheries,  protection  of  Pacific,  40, 
144;  abuses  in  allowances  for 
fishing  bounties,  119;  treaty  with 
Chili,   183;  Falkland  Islands,  293. 

Fitch,  Augustus,  letter,   29. 

Florida  archives  captured  by  Spain, 
180,  288-289,  362,  402 ;  purchase 
of,  312,  315  ;  war  with  Seminoles, 
475-476  ;  indemnification  for  con- 
fiscated property,  479. 

Flour,  reduction  in  duties  on,   144. 

Foreign  Affairs  Department.  See 
State    Department. 

Foreign  relations,  Jackson's  foreign 
policy,  13  ;  should  receive  more 
attention,  63  ;  condition,  Jackson's 
1st  annual  message,  36-42;  2d  an- 
nual message,  83-93  !  Srd  annual 
message,  133-146;  4th  annual 
message,  178-184;  5th  annual 
message,  282-293 ;  6th  annual 
message,  361-376;  7th  annual 
message,  399-404 ;  8th  annual 
message.  451-452;  cordiality 
(farewell  address),  495  ;  policy 
(farewell   address),   513. 

Foreign  stockholders  in  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  154,  157,  159, 
160,   161,   162,  167. 

Forsythe,  Maj.,  speaks  in  Senate, 
21. 

Fortifications.  Secretary  of  War's 
report  cited,  119;  provisions  for, 
186;  at  exposed  points,  300;  fail- 
ure to  pass  bill  for  appropriations 
for,  430  ;  on  seaboard,  appropria- 
tions for,  479 ;  increase  needed, 
514- 

Fox  Indians,  aggressions,   194,  301. 

France,  Jackson's  relations  with, 
13;  relations  with  U.  S.,  36-38, 
283,  366-376,  451;  expressions  of 
friendship,  83  ;  spoliation  claims, 
82,  90-91,  133.  135.  138,  284-286, 
361,  367-369.  372-375.  399.  405, 
451  ;  Bank  of  the  United  States 
purchaser  of  bill  drawn  on,  272  ; 
U.  S.  minister  plenipotentiary  to, 
286 ;    possibility    of    hostile    rela- 


tions with,  375-376;  seizure  of 
public  stock  to  meet  payments  on 
spoliation  claims,  379 ;  U.  S. 
shows  consideration  toward,  in 
not  pressing  claims,  406  ;  negotia- 
tions with  Congress  concerning 
spoliation  claims,  407-409,  410; 
legislation  as  to  spoliation  claims, 
412,  413;  recall  of  minister  from 
Washington  and  other  hostilities 
in  French  attitude,  411;  criticism 
of  president's  message,  414-416; 
message  on  affairs  with,  443-450  ; 
diplomatic  relations  resumed, 
452  ;  possession  of  Algiers  affects 
American  relations,  364 ;  Ameri- 
can tariff  on  wines  of,  368  ;  tarifiE 
on  American  cotton,  369. 

Franking  privilege,  question  of  re- 
vision of  laws  relating  to,   389. 

Fraud,  on  the  Treasury,  53 ;  law 
for  punishment  of,  197 ;  in  pen- 
sion  claims,   386-387. 

Frontier  warfare.     See  Indians. 

Fuel,  duty  on,  473. 

Funds,  Public.    See  Finances. 

Gaines,  Gen.,  occupation  of  Nacog- 
doches, 477. 

General  Land  Office.  See  Land  Of- 
fice, General. 

Georgetown  (S.  C),  port  of  en- 
try,  223. 

Georgia,  encouragement  to  nullifi- 
cation, 23  ;  attempt  of  Indians  to 
maintain  independent  govern- 
ment in,  57-58;  Indian  lands  in, 
82,  114;  jurisdiction  over  Indian 
lands,  126;  Indian  affairs,  131, 
133.  195  ;  letter  from  governor 
cited,  132;  removal  of  Cherokee 
Indians,  147;  land  grants,  190, 
312;  profits  from  cession  of  land, 
315;  establishment  of  branch 
mints,  422 ;  indemnification  for 
confiscated  property,  479  ;  tabular 
statistics  for  proposed  distribu- 
tion of  surplus  revenue,  486. 

Germany,  commerce  with,  142. 

Ghent,  Treaty  of,  37,   136. 

Gold  (money),  value  of  legislation 
regulating,  422 ;  circulating  me- 
dium for  currency,  426,  468,  505, 
513  ;  superseded  by  paper  for  gen- 
eral currency,  467 ;  increased  cir- 
culation by  measure  requiring 
specie  payments  for  public  lands, 
471.     See  also,  Precious  metals. 

Government,  aid  to  prevent  nullifi- 
cation, 18;  four  years  limit  to  of- 
fice holding,  45  ;  as  stockholder 
in  corporations,  95,  97;  relations 
with  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
154-176,   273,   276;   banking  rela- 


528 


Index 


lions,  279 ;  systematization  of  ex- 
penditures, 296 ;  cession  of  pub- 
lic lands,  168,  307,  310,  314;  pow- 
ers involved  in  questions  of  public 
lands,  190;  control  of  internal 
improvements,  192-193;  federal, 
in  relation  to  State,  loo-ioi,  106, 
215-220,  258-260;  in  relation  to 
Indian  affairs,  125-132;  powers 
of,  177;  obligations  of  South 
Carolina  to,  222  ;  power  over  pub- 
lic moneys  to  be  clearly  defined, 
428. 

Governor's  powers  in  South  Caro- 
lina,  210. 

Graham,  J.,  revolutionary  patriot, 
21. 

Great  Lakes,  commerce,  136;  im- 
provements in  harbors,   397. 

Grundy,  ,  resolutions,  22. 

Gulf  of  Florida,  lighthouses,  283. 

Habeas  Corpus  act  in  South  Caro- 
lina, 209. 

Hamilton,  Gov.,  nullification  speech, 
29 ;  message  to  South  Carolina 
legislature,  211. 

Harbors,  proposed  bill  for  improve- 
ment, 93,  94 ;  appropriations  for, 
394,  396  ;  improvements  defrayed 
by   Congress,   396-397,   43 1- 

Harrison,  ,  21. 

Havana,  cholera  at,  289 ;  orders  to 
the  agent  of  the  U.  S.  at,  in  re- 
gard to  Florida  archives,   362. 

Hayne,  Gov.,  inaugural  address,  211. 

Herndon,  William  H.,  "  Life  of 
Lincoln  "  cited,  232. 

Highways,  construction  of,  49,  68. 

Holland,  indemnity  claims,  135, 
452 ;  Bank  of  United  States  nego- 
tiations with,  269 ;  U.  S.  relations 
•with,   361,  399,  403. 

House  of  Representatives,  connec- 
tion with  presidential  election, 
43-44,  244-245,  441  ;  veto  message 
to,  66-81;  obligations  of,  163; 
committee  of  investigation  in  re- 
lation to  Bank  of  United  States 
legislation,  174;  on  safety  of  de- 
posits, 270-2^2,  299 ;  accusatory 
power  vested  in,  in  cases  of  im- 
peachment, 327,  330,  331,  333, 
335  ;  practical  impeachment  of 
Pres.  Jackson  originated  in  Sen- 
ate instead  of,  332 ;  proceedings 
in  case  of  charges  against  presi- 
dent, 334,  336 ;  authority  for 
president's  power  of  removal, 
341  ;  negotiation  for  lighthouses 
in  Bahamas,  283  ;  Jackson's  mes- 
sage to  (1830),  cited,  318;  legis- 
lative power  under  the  Constitu- 
tion,  327  ;  insist  on  execution  of 


French  treaty  of  1831,  449;  reso- 
lution on  inquiry  as  to  Indian  af- 
fairs, 477 ;  Committee  on  Com- 
merce, questions  of  salaries  re- 
ferred to,  484 ;  resolution  on  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  independ- 
ence  of  Texas,  489. 

Illinois  district  court,  152,  197  ;  In- 
dian occupancy,  114;  militia  fight 
Indians,  194;  payment  on  public 
lands,  316;  tabular  statistics  for 
proposed  distribution  of  surplus 
revenue,  486. 

Impeachment,  powers  of,  under  the 
Constitution,  330,  333-336 ;  accu- 
satory power  vested  in  House  of 
Representatives,  327 ;  Senate  in 
relation  to,  329,  332 ;  rules  for, 
331- 

Importation.  See  Commerce  ;  Tar- 
iff. 

Imprisonment  for  debt,  52;  for  dis- 
obeying nullification  ordinance, 
209.  .. 

Inaugural  Address,  Jackson's  first, 
31-34;   second,  257-260. 

Indemnity,  to  Indians,  111-112; 
proposed,  for  sufferers  in  Indian 
hostilities,  479  ;  for  infringement 
of  rights  by  foreign  nations,  135  ; 
claims  from  Brazil,  145.  See 
also,  Spoliation  claims. 

Indiana  district  courts,  152,  197; 
Indian  occupancy,  114;  Indians 
unprepared  to  remove  to  western 
reser\'ations,  433 ;  payment  on 
public  lands,  316;  tabular  statis- 
tics for  proposed  distribution  of 
surplus  revenue,  486. 

Indians,  treatment  of,  33 ;  condi- 
tions, 56,  119,  125-132,  177,  282, 
385  ;  attempts  at  independence, 
57-58;  removal  to  reservations, 
59,  82,  110-113,  115,  147-148,  186, 
19s,  301,  385-386,  399,  433,  495; 
removal  of,  duties  of  army,  431  ; 
removal  at  expense  of  govern- 
ment, 434 ;  in  South  Carolina, 
127;  compacts  as  to  public  lands, 
191  ;  relations  with,  300-301  ;  pay- 
ments for  titles  to  land,  315 ; 
hostilities  witb,  194,  384 ;  ap- 
propriation for  civilization  of, 
387 ;  protective  policies  to- 
ward, 435  ;  protection  from  de- 
predations in  Texas,  453-454  *, 
proposed  relief  to  sufferers  from 
depredations  by,  479 ;  plans  for 
improvement  in  western  reserva- 
tions, 480.  See  also,  Cherokee 
Indians ;  Chickasaw  Indians ; 
Choctaw      Indians;      Creek      In- 


Index 


529 


dians ;  Seminole  Indians ;  Sen- 
eca   Indians. 

Infantry,  Marine  corps  to  be 
merged  in,  6i. 

Inland  navigation.  See  Navigation, 
Inland. 

Internal  affairs,  legislation  of,   50. 

Internal  improvements,  appropria- 
tions for,  49,  320,  393-398 ;  by 
national  and  state  government, 
82;  effect  on  commerce,  104;  ac- 
tion of  federal  government  to- 
ward, 391-392  ;  expenditures  for, 
loi  ;  extension  of,  133;  in  rela- 
tion to  government's  funds,  192- 
193;  improvident  legislation,  97; 
in  relation  to  excessive  tariff, 
503;  ist  inaugural  address,  32-33  ; 
4th  annual  message,  177;  6th  an- 
nual message,  361  ;  7th  annual 
message,  399 ;  Jackson's  veto 
message,  66-81  ;  powers  of  Con- 
gress in  relation  to,  97  ;  necessity 
of  established  attitude  toward, 
100  ;  surplus  revenue,  102  ;  legis- 
lation, 107  ;  proceeds  from  public 
lands  as  appropriations  for,  319; 
unconstitutional  powers  of  gov- 
ernment in  appropriation  of  pub- 
lic revenue  for,  464-465  ;  people's 
decision  that  they  shall  not  be  fi- 
nanced by  government,  504. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  popularity,  11; 
condemnation,  12;  creed,  preser- 
vation of  the  Union,  14  ;  charac- 
ter, 16;  emotions  displayed  in 
writings,  17;  responsibility  of 
president  toward  Indians,  125  ; 
personal  attitude  toward  nullifi- 
cation, 232  ;  support  from  Maine, 
in  removal  of  public  deposits, 
351  ;  support  from  New  Jersey, 
352-354  ;  support  from  Ohio,  354  ; 
defense  of  personal  character 
against  arraignment  by  Senate, 
358-360. 

Jefferson  , Thomas,  internal  improve- 
ments in  his  administration,  69 ; 
on  tariff,  cited,    116. 

Jesup,  Gen.,  operations  against  the 
Seminoles,  476. 

Judicial  system  of  U.  S.,  62-63 ; 
Federal  (4th  annual  message), 
177;  imperfection,  197;  extension 
of,  152.  See  also.  Circuit  courts; 
Courts  of  law ;   District   courts. 

Kentucky,  circuit  courts  in,  197 ; 
tabular  statistics  for  proposed  dis- 
tribution  of  surplus   revenue, 486. 

Labor,  prosperity,  133 ;  effects  of 
excessive  bank  issues,  468 ;  price. 


in  relation  to  price  of  products, 
469 ;  effects  of  excessive  tariff, 
503 ;  of  paper  currency,   506. 

Land  Office,  General,  required  im- 
provements, 420-421. 

Lands,  Public,  sales  of,  47,  119; 
sale  to  settlers,  191,  420,  471  ; 
sale  in  relation  to  extension  of 
bank  credits,  470  ;  revenue  from, 
149.  293,  315,  316,  319,  460;  price, 
117,  185,  322,  324,  469;  govern- 
ment's right  of  purchase,  168; 
taxation,  171  ;  disposition  of,  190, 
314,  315;  decrease  of  value  in 
South  Carolina,  251  ;  grants  from 
Congress,  305,  306  ;  veto  message, 
305-324 ;  waste  lands  to  be  used 
for  common  benefit  of  U.  S.,  309  ; 
cession  of  State  claims,  311,  312; 
U.  S.  title  to,  312;  legislation  as 
to  State  payments,  316-317;  Con- 
gress oversteps  authority  in  dis- 
posal of,  317-318;  made  a  per- 
petual charge  upon  the  Treasury 
by  proposed  legislation,  320  ;  pro- 
portion of  proceeds  from  sale  of, 
to  go  to  State,  322 ;  should  cease 
to  be  source  of  revenue,  323 ;  of- 
ficers in  charge  of,  appointed  by 
president,  343  ;  Ohio  legislation 
on,  354-355;  receipts  in  Treasury 
from,  455  ;  payment  to  be  made 
in  specie,  470 ;  open  to  emigra- 
tion, 471  ;  speculations  due  to 
paper  currency,  506 ;  Indian  title 
to,  114,  125;  Indian  titles  to,  ex- 
tinguished, 147-148;  intrusion 
upon   Indian   lands,   131. 

Law,  Patent.     See  Patents. 

Law  of  copyright.     See  Copyright. 

Leavenworth,   Gen.,  death,   384. 

Legislation  on  nullification,  27 ;  on 
tariff,  46-47,  218,  225-227  ;  in 
South  Carolina,  with  regard  to 
tariff,  209,  229-230 ;  of  internal 
affairs,  50  ;  punishment  for  fraud, 
53.  197  _;  on  military  affairs,  54; 
on  pensions,  55-56  ;  for  appropri- 
ations for  Cumberland  Road,  70 ; 
on  commerce,  85  ;  presidential 
disapproval,  93  ;  improvidence  in 
relation  to  internal  improvements, 
97 ;  for  internal  improvements, 
105,  396;  as  to  Indian  lands,  114; 
on  Indian  affairs,  125,  385  ;  re- 
forms in,  necessary  for  District 
of  Columbia,  123  ;  recommenda- 
tion for  revision  of  consular 
laws,  146 ;  on  coinage  and  cur- 
rency, 169-170,  422,  428,  469;  on 
banking,  170,  475;  as  to  petition- 
ing State  and  circuit  courts,  229  ; 
in  relation  to  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  262,  351-355.  474-475;   for 


530 


Index 


deposit  of  public  money,  345, 
455-456,  458,  459.  460;  as  to 
French  claims,  283-284,  370-372, 
375  ;  as  to  duties  on  tonnage  of 
Spanish  ships,  287  ;  as  to  revenue 
system,  295  ;  as  to  public  lands, 
305-312;  northwest  ordinance 
(1787),  313;  as  to  payment  on 
State  cessions  of  public  land, 
316;  on  president's  powers  of  re- 
moval, 341  ;  as  to  duties  of  Sec- 
retary of  Treasury,  343 ;  as  to 
custody  of  public  property,  344 ; 
revision  of  laws  relating  to  frank- 
ing privilege,  389  ;  for  navigation 
improvements,  396-398 ;  as  to 
duties  on  Dutch  and  Belgian  ship- 
ping, 403-404  ;  in  relation  to  Post 
Office,  438,  439,  483  ;  revision  of 
laws  for  District  of  Columbia, 
442 ;  proposed,  as  to  compensa- 
tion for  volunteers,  478 ;  pro- 
posed in  relation  to  General  Land 
Office,  421. 

Leigh,   mission  of,  2T. 

Levy,  Col.,  21. 

Lighthouses,  building  of,  93,  94 ;  for 
Bahamas  and  Gulf  of  Florida, 
283  ;  appropriations  for,  393,  394  ; 
improvements  defrayed  by  gov- 
ernment, 396-397. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  Gettysburg  ad- 
dress cited,  17;  2d  inaugural  ad- 
dress cited,   18.        _ 

Liquor  traffic,  prohibited  with  Indi- 
ans, 435. 

Livingston,  Edward,  Anti-nullifi- 
cation proclamation,  232. 

Loans,  extended  by  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  262,  269  ;  of  State 
banks  to  be  extended,  277 ;  cor- 
rupt, of  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  378.  See  also  Banks  and 
banking. 

Louisiana,  purchase  of,  69,  312,  315  ; 
commercial  provisions  connected 
with  session  of,  139;  district 
courts,  152,  197;  payment  on  pub- 
lic lands,  316;  abandonment  of 
French  claims  with  regard  to 
treaty  of  cession,  368 ;  establish- 
ment of  branch  mints,  422  ;  tabu- 
lar statistics  for  proposed  distri- 
bution  of  surplus  revenue,  486. 

Louisville  (Ky.),  transfer  of  pub- 
lic deposits  to  State  banks,   347. 

Louisville  and  Portland  Canal  Com- 
pany, subscription  for  stock  in, 
93.   97- 


McCulloch, 
McDuffie,  - 

29. 
Machinery  for  ship  building,  60  ;  ef- 


-,  vs.  Maryland,  170. 
nullification  leader, 


fects  of  improvements  on  prices, 
117. 

McLane,  ,  U.  S.  relations  with 

England,  86. 

Madison,  James,  message  to  Con- 
gress cited,  63  ;  veto  message 
cited,  66 ;  internal  improvements 
in  his  administration,  70  ;  on  tar- 
iff, cited,   116. 

Mails,  U.  S.    See  Post  Office. 

Maine,  connection  with  Northeast- 
ern boundary  dispute,  137;  sena- 
tor from,  supports  resolutions 
against  president,  351  ;  resolu- 
tions on  removal  of  public  depos- 
its from  Bank  of  The  United 
States,  351-352;  tabular  statistics 
for  proposed  distribution  of  sur- 
plus revenue,  486. 

Manufactures,  conditions  of,  45-46, 
133;  effects  of  tariff,  46;  encour- 
agement of  domestic,  80-81  ;  low 
prices  result  of  tariff,  116;  domes- 
tic, 177;  encouragement  of  do- 
mestic, 187;  assertion  that  rev- 
enue laws  are  intended  for  pro- 
tection of,  238 ;  power  of  Con- 
gress over  French  manufacturing 
interests,  373  ;  prosperity,  7th  an- 
nual message,  400 ;  policies  for 
general  benefit,  419  ;  result  of  dis- 
crimination as  to  tariff,  461  ;  dan- 
ger in  reduction  of  tariff,  465. 

Marine  corps,  disposition  of,  61  ;  ac- 
tive in  operations  against  Semi- 
noles  and  Creeks,  475. 

Marine  law,  treaty  between  U.  S. 
and   Belgium,  364. 

Maryland,  outgrown  laws  in,  123; 
District  of  Columbia  partly  sub- 
ject to  laws  of,  152;  case  of  Mc- 
Culloch against,  170;  in  relation 
to  Articles  of  Confederation,  306- 
310;  tabular  statistics  for  pro- 
posed distribution  of  surplus  rev- 
enue, 486. 

Mason,  Col.,  21. 

Massachusetts,  land  grants  to  gov- 
ernment, 190,  311;  tabular  statis- 
tics for  proposed  distribution  of 
surplus  revenue,   486. 

Maysville,  Washington,  Paris  and 
Lexington  Turnpike  Road  Com- 
pany, veto  message,  66-8t  ;  sub- 
scription to,  97,  318,  319,  394;  ex- 
ecutive  approval   withheld.   395. 

Mechanical  arts,  taught  to  Indians, 
434-  ,  , 

Mediterranean  Sea,  policy  of  keep- 
ing U.  S.  force  in,  40. 

Merchandise,  regulations  for,  119; 
officers  in  charge  of,  appointed  by 
president,   343- 

Merchants,    indemnity    for    foreign 


Index 


531 


spoliation,  i40-:4i  ;  of  New 
York,  United  States  Banks'  af- 
fairs, 269.  See  also  Spoliation 
claims. 

Messages  to  Congress,  Jackson's  ist 
annual,  34-65;  2d  annual,  82-124; 
3d  annual,  133-153;  4th  annual, 
177-199;  5th  annual,  282-304;  6th 
annual,  360-398 ;  7th  annual,  399- 
442;  8th  annual,  451-486;  veto — 
Maysville  Turnpike  road,  66-81  ; 
veto — public  lands,  305-324  ;  af- 
fairs with  France,  443-450 ;  on 
Texas  and  Mexico,  487-492 ;  cita- 
tions, 21,  22;  explanation  of  mes- 
sage of  1834  demanded  by  France, 
413;    French  criticisms,  414,   415. 

Metals,  precious,  as  basis  for  cur- 
rency, 469.  See  also  Gold  (mon- 
ey) ;  Silver  (money). 

Mexico,  relations  with  U.  S.,  40-42  ; 
143-144,  182,  365,  399, .451  ;  treaty 
of  commerce  and  navigation,  90  ; 
boundary  dispute,  92-93,  292,454; 
question  of  territorial  integrity, 
404 ;  struggle  with  Texas,  453- 
454;  U.  S.  troops  in,  477-478; 
message  on  Texas  and,  487-492 ; 
U.    S.    neutrality,   490. 

Michigan,  tabular  statistics  for  pro- 
posed distribution  of  surplus  rev- 
enue, 486. 

Military  Academy.    Sec  West  Point. 

Military  defense  in  South  Carolina, 
2J0,  213,   230,  250. 

Military  education,  satisfactory  re- 
sults of  system,  430.  See  also 
West  Point  Military  Academy. 

Military  posts,  establishment  in  In- 
dian country,  480. 

Military  supplies,  officers  in  charge 
of,  appointed  by  president,  343. 

Militia,  importance  in  defense,  33 ; 
necessity  for  maintaining,  54 ;  in- 
sufficient organization,  194-195, 
431-432,  478;  of  Illinois,  against 
Indians,  194;  South  Carolina  to 
be  revised,  208,  210;  appropria- 
tion for  arms  and  equipment,  387. 

Mint  of  the  United  States,  work  on 
gold  coinage,  383  ;  establishment 
of  branches  in  Georgia,  North 
Carolina  and  Louisiana,  422  ;  na- 
tional bank,  a  substitute  for,  467. 
See  also  Banks  and  banking; 
Money. 

Mississippi,  Indian  affairs,  no,  114, 
131.  147  ;  district  courts,  152,  197  ; 
banking,  160;  payment  on  public 
lands,  316;  tabular  statistics  for 
proposed  distribution  of  surplus 
revenue,   486. 

Missouri,  Indian  occupancy,  114; 
district  courts,  152,  197  ;     banking. 


160;  payment  on  public  lands, 
316;  tabular  statistics  for  pro- 
posed distribution  of  surplus  rev- 
enue, 486. 

Mobile  (Ala.)   branch  bank,  160. 

Molasses,  forbidden  cargo  to  Amer- 
ican vessels,  85. 

Money,  Bank  of  the  United  States 
and  state  banks,  124;  constitu- 
tional provisions  for  currency, 
170,  466;  presidential  power  over, 
264;  control  should  not  be  sub- 
ject to  political  power,  280  ;  cus- 
tody of  public,  to  be  entrusted  to 
executive  department,  343  ;  gold 
coinage  sufficient  to  supply  need 
of  general  paper  currency,  383 ; 
plans  for  sound  currency,  423- 
424 ;  president's  8th  annual  mes- 
sage, 451  ;  currency  system  in  re- 
lation to  sales  of  public  lands, 
470-471.  See  also  Banks  and 
banking ;  Deposits,  Public ;  Gold 
(money);  Paper  money;  Silver 
(money). 

Monopoly,  militates  against  system 
of  sound  currency,  423-424 ;  re- 
sult of  paper  money  system,  512, 

513- 
Monroe,  James,  veto  message  cited, 

66  ;  action  as  to  Cumberland  Road 

bill,  71  ;  on  tariff,  cited,  116. 
Morocco,  treaty  with,  364,  455. 
Muscat,     commercial     treaty     with, 

455- 

Nacogdoches  (Mex.),  U.  S.  troops 
in,  454,  477-  . 

Naples,  indemnity  claims,  135,  140, 
181  ;  commercial  intercourse  with 
U.  S.,  452.  - 

Natchez   (Miss.),  branch  bank,   160. 

National  bank,  proposition  for  es- 
tablishment, 64.  See  also  Bank 
of  the  United  States ;  Banks  and 
banking. 

Navigation,  of  Black  Sea,  39,  182; 
improvement  of  inland,  49,  68, 
70 ;  in  colonial  parts  of  (jreat 
Britain,  84-87 ;  Mexican  treaty, 
90  ;  with  Austria,  93  ;  protection 
of,  by  government,  93  ;  improve- 
ment, 94,  134,  431 ;  prosperous 
condition,  178;  treaty  with  Rus- 
sia, 286 ;  Spanish  and  American 
tonnage  duties,  287 ;  duties  in 
Cuba  and  Puerto  Rico  on  Ameri- 
can, 362 ;  improvement  of  Wa- 
bash River,  391,  398;  appropria- 
tions for  improvements  in,  393 ; 
appropriations  for  improvements 
as  distinguished  from  appropria- 
tions for  other  internal  improve- 
ments,    396 ;     improvements     de- 


532 


Index 


frayed  by  government,  396-397. 
See  also  Commerce ;  Steam 
navigation. 

Navy,  need  for  support,  54 ;  condi- 
tion, 59-61,  119-120,  196-197,  302, 
481  ;  establishment  of  navy-yards, 
60  ;  application  of  surplus  reven- 
ue to  improvements  in  navy-yards, 
418;  protects  Pacific  fisheries  and 
commerce,  144;  provisions  for  in- 
crease, 388,  449,  481,  514;  erec- 
tion of  dry  dock  and  construction 
of  steam  batteries,  388 ;  discon- 
tinuance of  extra  allowances  and 
substitution  of  fixed  salaries,  428  ; 
inadequate  to  protection  of  com- 
merce, 436. 

Navy,  Secretary  of.  See  Secretary 
of  Navy. 

Navy-board,  substitution  of  bu- 
reaus, 61  ;  responsibilities,  484. 

Netherlands,  King  of,  settlement  of 
Northeastern    boundary,    137. 

Neutral  ports,  transhipments  at,  86. 

Neutral  rights,  infringements,  135; 
observation  of,  178.  See  also 
Commerce  ;    Navigation. 

New  England,  Indians  in,   128. 

New  Granada,  relations  with  U.  S., 
183,  291,  404;  reunion  with  Vene- 
zuela and  Ecuador,  365 ;  ac- 
knowledgment of  independence  by 
U.   S.,  490. 

New  Hampshire,  tabular  statistics 
for  proposed  distribution  of  sur- 
plus revenue,  486. 

New  Jersey,  legislation  on  land 
grants,  306  ;  resolution  on  remov- 
al of  public  deposits  from  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  352-354; 
senators  from,  support  resolutions 
against  president,  351  ;  tabular 
statistics  for  proposed  distribu- 
tion of  surplus  revenue,  486. 

New  York  (City),  Bank  of  the 
United  States'  negotiations,  269 ; 
payment  of  New  York  banks  in 
London,  279 ;   import   duties,   459. 

New  York  (State),  attitude  toward 
tariff,  24;  Indians  in,  128;  land 
grants  to  government,  190  ;  legis- 
lation on  land  claims,  307,  308 ; 
cessions  of  public  lands,  310;  tab- 
ular statistics  for  proposed  dis- 
tribution of  surplus  revenue,  486. 

Newfoundland,  restrictions  in  U.  S. 
commerce  with,   84. 

Non-intercourse  law  in  eastern 
States,  embargo  and,  236. 

North  Carolina,  Indian  settlements 
in,  129;  land  grants  to  govern- 
ment, 190,  311  ;  profits  from  ces- 
sion of  land,  315  ;  establishment 
of    branch    mints,    422 ;     tabular 


statistics  for  proposed  distribu- 
tion of  surplus  revenue,  486. 

North,  The,  growth  of  sectional 
feeling,  497. 

Northeastern  boundary,  arbitration, 
90,  282-283,  361,  399,  400-401, 
452  ;  referred  to  the  King  of  the 
Netherlands,  136-137;  special 
message  to   Senate,    179-180. 

Northwest  ordinance.  See  Ordi- 
nance of  1787. 

Nullification,  attitude  of  Jackson, 
12-13;  letters  on,  16-29;  Ordi- 
nance of,  22,  27,  29,  200 ;  Jack- 
son's message  on  Ordinance  of, 
200-231 ;  Anti-nullification  procla- 
mation, 14,  17,  232-256. 

Ohio,  attitude  toward  tariff,  24 ;  In- 
dians in,  114,  147,  433;  circuit 
courts  in,  197  ;  payments  on  pub- 
lic lands,  316;  senators  from,  sup- 
port resolutions  against  president, 
351  ;  resolutions  on  removal  of 
public  deposits  from  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  354-355 ;  tabular 
statistics  for  proposed  distribu- 
tion of  surplus  revenue,  486. 

Oliver,  Robert,  letter  on  nullifica- 
tion to,  17. 

Ordinance  of  Nullification.  See 
Nullification. 

Ordinance  of  1787  passed  by  the 
Congress  of  the  Confederation, 
313. 

Ordnance  corps,  re-organization 
recommended,  479.  See  also 
Army. 

Oriental  commerce.    See  Commerce. 

Pacific  commerce.     See  Commerce. 

Pacific  fisheries.     See   Fisheries. 

Panic  of  1837,  connection  with  act 
for  removal  of  public  deposits, 
261. 

Paper  money  in  state  banks,  124; 
need  for  check  of  excessive  issue, 
422,  473 ;  reform  in  system  of 
currency,  426,  466,  468,  469,  506- 
513  ;  suppression  of  bank  bills  be- 
low $20.00,  426 ;  in  relation  to 
public  revenue,  464 ;  supersedes 
gold  as  general  currency,  467, 
505  ;  over  issues  in  relation  to 
sales  of  public  land,  470.  See 
also   Banks  and  banking ;   Money. 

Paris,  minister  plenipotentiary  dis- 
patched to,  285-286. 

Parton,  James,  "  Life  of  Jackson," 
cited,  30,  232. 

Patents,  laws  concerning,  151,  167. 

Penal  laws,  unsatisfactory,  in  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,   123. 

Penitentiary,  completion  of,   123. 


Index 


533 


Pennsylvania,  attitude  toward  tariflF, 
24 ;  excise  law,  236  ;  act  of  incor- 
poration for  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  474  ;  tabular  statistics  for 
proposed  distribution  of  surplus 
revenue,  486. 

Pennsylvania  Historical  Society, 
Poinsett  collection,   17. 

Pensions,  proposed  revision  of  laws, 
55  ;  retention  of,  by  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  37S ;  agents  ap- 
pointed away  from  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  381  ;  exposures  of 
frauds,   386. 

Peru,  U.  S.  commercial  relations 
with,  41,  183 ;  disturbed  condi- 
tions, 144;  South  American  rela- 
tions, 293  ;  U.  S.  cordial  relations 
with,  404 ;  U.  S.  representation 
in,   366. 

Philadelphia    (frigate), recapture,  64. 

Pinckney,  Castle,   fortified,    18. 

Piracy,  suppression  of,  61  ;  on 
American  trading  ships  off  Su- 
matra,   143,   184. 

Poinsett,  Joel  R.,  Jackson's  letters 
to,  13 ;  collection  of  letter  on 
nullification,  17;  in  Mexico,  41- 
42. 

Poll  tax,  application  of,  171. 

Popular   vote.     See   Election. 

Population,  U.  S.  (1829),  35;  in- 
crease, 82 ;  increase  affects  sup- 
ply and  demand,  116;  of  South 
Carolina,  20. 

Ports  of  entry  and  delivery,  increase 
in,  397.     See  also  Tariff. 

Portugal,  U.  S.  relations,  39,  93, 
363,  401  ;  capture  of  American 
vessels,  141  ;  spoliation  claims, 
135,  181,  289,  452;  French  rela- 
tions with,  cited,  375. 

Post  Office,  conditions  of  depart- 
ment, 62,  302,  388-390,  481-482; 
mail  improvements,  121,  134;  es- 
tablishment of  new  mail  routes, 
302,  437 ;  income  from  postage, 
303  ;  provision  of  auditor  and 
treasurer  urged,  390 ;  circulation 
of  anti-slavery  opinions  through 
mails,  399,  438,  439 ;  finances, 
437  ;  use  of  railroads  constructed 
by  private  corporations,  438  ;  mail 
contracts  with  railroad  compa- 
nies, 482 ;  interchange  of  mails 
between  New  York  and  foreign 
ports,  482-483  ;  establishment  of 
fire-proof  building,  483. 

Postmaster-General,  report  cited,  62, 
119,  151,  197,  303,  349-  436,  438, 
481. 

Precious  metals,  increased  value, 
116-117;  importation,  to  re-estab- 
lish   finances,    379. 


President,  election  by  popular  vote, 
42-44,  82,  107-110,  151,  197,  244, 
304,  390-391.  440,  441.  451.  484; 
electoral  votes  (tabular  statistics), 
486;  obligations  and  powers,  163, 
325-327,  339,  340,  347;  au- 
thorized to  circulate  information 
as  to  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
274,  27s  ;  liabilities  to  punishment, 
328 ;  powers  of  Senate  in  relation 
to  action  of,  329,  330  ;  rules  for 
impeachment,  330,  331  ;  resolu- 
tions of  Senate  against,  331,  333- 

336,  355-358;     charges     against, 

337,  338;  powers  of  appointment, 
342-344;  powers  of  removal,  341, 
349  ;  authority  as  to  public  depos- 
its, 345,  347,  348. 

President's  Proclamation  of  Dec.  10, 
1832,  200. 

Press,  influence  of  Bank  of  the 
United  States  upon,  272,  27s,  281, 
298,  350. 

Prices  reduced,  116-117;  variation 
in  relation  to  bank  issues,  468, 
469. 

Prisoners,  proposed  legislation  for 
safe-guarding,  229. 

Property,  Public,  custody  of,  func- 
tion of  executive  department,  343. 

Protection.     See  Tariff. 

Protest  on  expunging  resolution, 
325-360. 

Prussia,  U.  S.  relations,  142,  361, 
402,  452. 

Public  debt.     See  Debt.  Public. 

Public  deposits.  See  Deposits,  Pub- 
lic. 

Public  lands.     See  Lands,  Public. 

Public  revenue.  See  Revenue,  Pub- 
lic. 

Puerto  Rico,  duties  levied  against 
U.  S.  navigation,  288,  362. 

Railroads,  construction,  134;  car- 
riage of  U.   S.   mails,   438,  482. 

Real  estate.  State  control  over,  167. 

Removal,  powers  of,  under  the  Con- 
stitution, 340,  341  ;  of  Secretary 
of  Treasury,  348. 

Replevin,  act  of,  209,  224,  226,  227. 

Representation,  basis  for  distribu- 
tion of  surplus  revenue,  102,  103  ; 
popular,  basis  of  government,  244- 

245- 
Reprisals     upon     French     property, 

proposed  legislation  for,   375. 
Reservations.    See   Indians ;    Lands. 
Resolution,    Expunging,    protest    on 

the,   325-360. 
Revenue,  disposition  of  surplus,  49, 

82,    92,    344,    345,    451,    458-459; 

distribution     of     surplus,     among 

several  States,  321,  486,  504-505; 


534 


Index 


surplus,  to  be  returned  to  people, 
319-320;  disposition  of  surplus, 
for  internal  improvement,  67-68, 
94;  loss  from  long  credits,  119; 
in  relation  to  tariff  and  taxation, 
74,  103,  185,  293,  296,  377,  462, 
463-464,  465,  503  ;  in  relation  to 
public  lands,  119,  191,  315,  316, 
319!  323,  471  ;  from  Post  Office 
department,  121,  389,  437,  481  ; 
application  of,  to  payment  of 
debt,  48,  504 ;  in  relation  to  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  422,  425  ; 
Senate's  resolutions  on  president's 
power  over,  325,  331,  337;  cus- 
tody by  State  banks,  425-426 ; 
adaptation  to  expenditure,  186; 
increase,  47,  148-149;  protection 
of,  50-51  ;  reform  advocated,  32  ; 
general  conditions,  82,  133,  282, 
418  ;  limitations  and  decrease,  214, 
319,  376,  419,  457,  464,  473; 
means  to  insure  its  collection, 
228 ;  right  of  Congress  to  raise, 
240,  241.     See  also  Finance. 

Revenue  cutter  service,  organiza- 
tion, 119. 

Revenue  laws,  new  bill  on,  22-24, 
26-27  ;  determination  of  president 
to  enforce,  29 ;  opposition  to, 
188-189,  200;  hostility  in  South 
Carolina,  202,  203,  211,  212,  214, 
226  ;  250  ;  over-ruled  by  Nullifica- 
tion ordinance,  242-244,  249  ;  con- 
stitutionality, 235,  236,  238; 
changes  made  by  Congress,  295  ; 
duties  of  Secretary  of  Treasury, 
343;  benefit  to  public,  419;  dis- 
position of  surplus  revenue,  459- 
461. 

Revolution,  pension  claims  from, 
386 ;  issues  of  paper  money  dur- 
ing, 466. 

Rhode  Island,  legislation  on  land 
grants,  306  ;  tabular  statistics  for 
proposed  distribution  of  surplus 
revenue,  486. 

Rice,  duties  on,   142,  289. 

Rivers,  improvement,  duties  of 
army,  431- 

Road-building,  appropriations  for, 
70,  394,  465 ;  government's  re- 
sponsibilities, 76,  79  ;  applications 
for  construction  of  roads  by 
government  not  presented,  395  ; 
Congress  in  relation  to,  97,  395  ; 
appropriation  from  proceeds  of 
public  lands,  319;  duties  of  army, 

431- 

Rockville  Road  Company,  subscrip- 
tion to,  97. 

Russia,  relations  with  U.  S.,  38,  89, 
142,  286,  361,  452;  U.  S.  com- 
merce    with,     181  ;     renewal     of 


treaty  with  U.  S.  in  relation  to 
trade  on  northwest  coast  of 
America,  403. 

Sac   Indians,  hostilities,   194,   301. 

St.  Croix,  commerce  with  island  of, 
290. 

St.  Lawrence  River,  commerce  on, 
136. 

St.   Louis  (Mo.),  branch  bank,   160. 

Salaries,  fixed,  for  Navy  Depart- 
ment, 428.     See  also  Wages. 

Salt,  duty  on,  473. 

Scott,  Gen.,  leads  troops  against  In- 
dians,   194. 

Seamen,  expenditure  for  sick,   119. 

Secession,  Jackson's  attitude  to- 
ward, 21  ;  State  right  to,  244, 
245  ;  unconstitutionality,  247, 
248.     See   also    Nullification. 

Secretary  of  Navy,  report  cited,  59, 
120,  151,  196,  302,  349,  388,  436, 
481. 

Secretary  of  South  Carolina,  copies 
of  Ordinance  of  Nullification 
from,  208. 

Secretary  of  State,  report  cited,  151, 
180,  293,  349,  445,  447  ;  presi- 
dent's power  of  removal,  341. 

Secretary  of  Treasury,  report  cited, 
184,  186,  293,  380,  418,  420,  422, 
455.  473.  483  ;  in  relation  to  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  159,  189, 
265,  281,  297-300;  instructions  to 
collectors,  203,  223 ;  to  receive 
French  payments,  283-284 ;  ac- 
tion toward  payment  of  public 
debt,  294 ;  in  relation  to  presi- 
dent, 338,  342,  349-351,  355;  sta- 
tus, 343 ;  position  of  treasurer 
subordinate  to,  344 ;  disposition 
of  public  moneys,  345-348 ;  order 
as  to  payment  for  public  lands, 
470. 

Secretary  of  War,  report  cited,  54, 
56,  119,  151,  194,  195.  300,  384, 
429,  430,  475,  478 ;  letter  cited, 
132;  president's  power  of  remov- 
al, 349 ;  investigation  of  pension 
claims,  386,  387 ;  revision  of 
Army  pay  suggested,  480. 

Seminole  Indians,  arrangements  for 
removal  of,  385  ;  Jackson's  8th 
annual  message,  451  ;  war  with, 
475-476. 

Senate  rejects  British  commercial 
concessions,  85  ;  treaty  with  Tur- 
key submitted  to,  88 ;  sanction  to 
Danish  treaty,  90;  obligations  of, 
163;  message  on  northeastern 
boundary,  179-180;  resolutions  on 
northeastern  boundary,  361,  401; 
message  to  (1831),  cited,  196; 
sanction   for   treaty  with    Russia, 


Index 


535 


286 ;  ratification  of  treaty  for  re- 
moval of  Indians,  301  ;  resolutions 
against  president,  325,  328-330, 
337,338,  348,  349.  355;  legislative 
power  under  the  constitution,  327, 
329 ;  powers  and  rules  of  im- 
peachment, 330,  332-336  ;  powers 
in  relation  to  appointments,  339, 
340,  342  ;  authority  for  president's 
power  of  removal,  341  ;  dangers 
in  arraignment  of  president  by, 
356-358 ;  act  to  improve  naviga- 
tion of  Wabash  River  returned 
to,  391  ;  Journal,  in  relation  to 
resolutions  against  president,  351  ; 
president's  protest  placed  upon 
Journal,  360. 

Seneca  Indians,  money  for,  56. 

Settlers  on  public  lands,  191.  See 
also   Lands,    Public. 

Sheriff,  powers.  226 ;  duties  in  re- 
lation to  tariff,  227. 

Shipbuilding  in  navy-yards,  60. 

Shipping.  See  Commerce  ;  Naviga- 
tion. 

Ships  of  war.     See  Navy. 

Siam,  commercial  treaty  with,  455. 

Sicily,  claims  for  indemnity  from, 
141,  363,  401  ;  U.  S.  relations 
with,   290. 

Silver  (money)  circulating  medium 
for  currency,  426,  468,  471,  505, 
513.     See   also    Precious  metals. 

Sinking  fund  not  needed  after  ex- 
tinction of  public  debt,  421. 

Slavery,  judgment  of  Jackson  by 
abolitionists,  12 ;  circulation 
through  mails  of  anti-slavery 
opinions,   399,   438,  439-  . 

Smuggling,  needed  protection  from, 

50-51. 

South,  Indian  affairs  in,  131  ;  ex- 
citement due  to  circulation  of 
anti-slavery  opinions  through  the 
mails,  438,  439 ;  growth  of  sec- 
tional feeling,  497. 

South  America,  relations  with  U. 
S.,  40-41.  133.  291,  364-366,  399. 
404-405,  452;  affairs,  177,  183- 
184. 

South  Carolina,  Jackson's  attitude 
toward,  13;  nullification,  17,  28, 
232 ;  weakness  in  defense,  20 ; 
fortification,  25-27 ;  Indian  af- 
fairs, 127,  131 ;  land  grants  to 
government,  190,  311;  message 
on  Ordinance  [of  Nullification] 
and  Proclamation  of  Gov.  Hamil- 
ton, 200-231  ;  convention  at  Co- 
lumbia, 201  ;  organizes  military 
resources,  202,  210;  Nullification 
ordinance  before  legislature,  207  ; 
courts  as  opposed  to  U.  S.  courts, 
208 ;    obligations   to    Union,    222 ; 


collectors  of  tariff  in,  223  ;  pro- 
visional withdrawal  from  the 
Union,  233  ;  tabular  statistics  for 
proposed  distribution  of  surplus 
revenue,  486.  See  also  Nullifica- 
tion, Ordinance  of. 

Spain,  relation  with  U.  S.,  36-38, 
139-140,  180,  452;  spoliation 
claims,  90-92,  135,  286,  287,  399, 
401-402;  duties  on  American  ves- 
sels, 288 ;  ratification  of  claims 
for  payment  of  U.  S.  citizens, 
362  ;  U.  S.  neutrality,  490. 

Spanish  America,  Spanish  relations 
with,  402 ;  U.  S.  neutrality,  490. 
See  also   South  America. 

Speculation,  extension  of  bank  cred- 
its, 470 ;  in  public  lands  due  to 
paper  currency,   506. 

Spoliation  claims,  on  France,  133, 
138,  284-286,  361,  367-369,  372- 
375.  399.  405-409.  412-416,  443- 
447,  451  ;  foreign,  140,  181  ;  on 
Sicily,  141,  363,  401  ;  on  Spain, 
180,  286-287,  362,  399,  402;  on 
Portugal,  289,  363,  401  ;  on  Brazil, 
292. 

Stage  coaches,  improvements  in, 
121. 

State  banks,  privileges  accorded,  in 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  158; 
and  banking  laws,  170;  support  of 
credit  by  Secretary  of  Treasury, 
265  ;  destruction  by  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  277  ;  as  substitute 
for  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
278,  279,  297,  345.  347.  382,  42s, 
426,  455-456,  471-472;  resources 
prevent  financial  distress,  298 ; 
president  urges  regulation  by 
Congress  of  deposits  in,  383  ;  in 
relation  to  branch  mints,  422 ; 
evils  from  bankruptcy,  423 ;  8th 
annual  message,  451  ;  excessive 
issues,  467.  See  also  Banks  and 
banking. 

State  control  of  Indian  affairs,  126- 
132;  of  real  estate,  167;  of  inter- 
nal improvements,  192-193 ;  of 
railroads  with  relation  to  U.  S. 
mails,   438. 

State  courts,  damages  for  seizures, 
225  ;  relation  to  circuit  courts  of 
U.  S.,  229 ;  of  South  Carolina, 
233- 

State  Department  to  be  supple- 
mented with  home  department, 
63  ;  legislation  in  regard  to  presi- 
dent's power  of  removal,  341,  342. 
See  also  Secretary  of  State. 
State  government  should  control  in- 
ternal affairs,  50  ;  relation  to  fed- 
eral government,  106 ;  jurisdic- 
tion over  Indians,   114-115;  right 


53^ 


Ind 


ex 


to  tax  banking  institutions,  159; 
source  of  payment  for  officers, 
321  ;  support  from  U.  S.  treasury, 
320,  321  ;  effects  of  irresponsible 
taxation,  463. 

State  legislature,  and  internal  im- 
provements, 105  ;  should  levy  tax- 
ation for  support  of  state  gov- 
ernment,  321. 

States  rights,  32,  100,  198;  involved 
in  question  of  public  lands,  190, 
192;  as  declared  by  South  Caro- 
lina, 205-206 ;  and  obligations  to 
the  Union,  215-220;  as  exempli- 
fied in  Nullification  proclamation, 
235  ;  as  to  raising  revenue,  241  ; 
under  the  constitution,  246,  247  ; 
preservation,  258-260.  See  also 
Secession. 

State  taxation.     See  Taxation. 

State  veto  of  Union  laws,  236,  238- 

239- 

Steam,   use   of,    134. 

Steam   navigation,    disasters,   303. 

Stocks  and  stock  holding.  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  154-163,  167, 
169,  422,  474  ;  opposition  to  gov- 
ernment as  stockholder  in  corpor- 
ations, 189 ;  negotiations  of  Sec- 
retary of  State,  294 ;  proposed  na- 
tional bank,  466-467. 

Subscriptions  toward  revenue  for 
internal  improvements,  95  ;  to 
Louisville  and  Portland  canal, 
97 ;  to  Maysville  and  Rockville 
Road    companies,    97. 

Sugar,  forbidden  cargo  to  Ameri- 
can   vessels,    85. 

Sumatra,  piracy  committed  on 
American  ships  at,  184. 

Sumner,  Chas.,  "  Andrew  Jackson  " 
cited,  154,  257,  493-  . 

Supreme  court  and  circuit  courts, 
63;  decisions,  159,  165;  decision 
on  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
163,  164;  decisions  on  banking, 
168,  170,  172;  Ordinance  of  Nul- 
lification, 205 ;  decision  as  to 
jurisdiction  of  courts,  224;  veto 
of  appeal  to  South  Carolina,  233  ; 
judicial  power  under  the  Consti- 
tution, 327  ;  Florida  archives  to  be 
used  in  legal  questions  pending 
in,  363.     See  also  Courts  of  law. 

Surplus  revenue.     See  Revenue. 

Surveys,  delay  owing  to  insufficient 
Engineer  Corps,  479 ;  of  the 
coast,  483,  484. 

Sweden,  relations  with,  139,  362, 
402,  452;  indemnity  claims,  135. 

Taney,  Roger  B.,  Secretary  of  Treas- 
ury, supported  by  New  Jersey  in 
removal   of  public   deposits,   353 ; 


Chief-Justice,  comments  on  Anti- 
nullification  proclamation,  232 ; 
attorney-general,    261. 

Tariff,  agitation  over  bill,  24 ;  Clay's 
compromise,  29 ;  effects  of,  45, 
48,  lis;  duties  upon  foreign  arti- 
cles, 46;  adjustment,  47,  116,117- 
118.  149,  187;  connection  with 
public  debt,  76 ;  connection  with 
appropriations,  80 ;  relation  to 
surplus  revenue,  103  ;  objected  to 
as  unconstitutional,  115;  reduc- 
tions, 27,  138,  142,  144,  295,  296, 
324;  conditions,  177;  duties  on 
tonnage,  1 80-1  Si  ;  revenue  from, 
1 84,  185,  293  ;  in  South  Carolina, 
201,  207,  209,  211-213,  22^-226, 
251;  regulations,  224,  228;  offi- 
cers of  the  customs,  227  ;  in  for- 
eign goods,  declared  unconstitu- 
tional, 232 ;  duties  on  Spanish 
and  American  shipping,  287,  288 ; 
on  rice,  289 ;  land  system  made 
dependent  upon  by  proposed  leg- 
islation, 320  ;  public  money,  can- 
not be  raised  by,  343  ;  in  Cuba 
and  Puerto  Rico,  362  ;  on  French 
wines,  368;  discrimination  against 
France,  373-374;  effects  of  public 
debt  upon,  377 ;  on  Dutch  and 
Belgian  vessels  and  cargoes,  403- 
404 ;  modifications  not  recom- 
mended, 419;  receipts  in  Treas- 
ury from  customs,  455  ;  payment 
of  import  duties  in  New  York 
City,  459 ;  anticipated  deficiency 
in  revenue  from,  460 ;  uni- 
formity under  Constitution,  461  ; 
in  relation  to  surplus  revenue, 
463-465  ;  standardizing  of  weights 
and  measures  for  Custom  Houses, 
483  ;  excessive,  503.  See  also 
Revenue  ;   Taxation. 

Taxation,  additional,  74 ;  heaviness 
of,  75  ;  for  internal  improvements, 
102,  103;  reduction  in,  150,  419; 
in  relation  to  banking,  154,  159, 
160,  167,  170;  State,  171-173, 
460 ;  Western  population's  con- 
tribution, 191  ;  limitation,  214, 
221  ;  inequality,  239  ;  local,  should 
not  be  vested  in  national,  321  ;  in 
relation  to  proceeds  of  public 
lands,  322 ;  public  money  cannot 
be  raised  by,  343  ;  for  extinction 
of  public  debt,  377;  in  relation  to 
disposition  of  surplus  revenue, 
458,  461,  486;  constitutional  pur- 
poses, 462  ;  irresponsible  levying 
power,  463 ;  liability  of  govern- 
ment to  disabuse  power  of,  502- 
503.     See  also  Poll  tax. 

Tea,  duty  on,  47,  74. 

Tennessee,    circuit    courts    in,    197; 


Ind 


ex 


537 


volunteers  for  army,  478 ;  tabular 
statistics  for  proposed  distribu- 
tion of  surplus  revenue,  4S6. 

Terceira,  blockade  of,  141,  181,  289. 

Texas,  question  of  Mexico  and  (8th 
annual  message),  451  ;  and  Mex- 
ico, message  to  Congress,  487- 
492  ;  Mexican  struggle  with,  453  ; 
new  government,  455. 

Timber  in  navy-yards,  60. 

Tolls,  exemptions  from,  in  profiting 
by   internal  improvements,   95. 

Topographical  Corps,  reorganiza- 
tion, 430,  479. 

Trade.     See  Commerce. 

Trade,  Illicit.     See  Smuggling. 

Treasurer,  position  created  in  1789, 
subordinate  to  Secretary  of 
Treasury,  344. 

Treasury  balance  in,  47-48,  I49. 
319,  321,  418,  455-457;  debts  to, 
51;  frauds  against,  53,  386;  in- 
crease of  amount  in,  74 ;  to  de- 
fray expenses  for  navigation  pro- 
tection, 93;  receipts  in,  118,  293- 
295  ;  payment  of  public  dues,  119  ; 
relations  with  Bank  of  the  Unit- 
ed States,  124,  269,  270-272,  382; 
proceeds  from  government  stock 
in  corporations  to  go  to,  189; 
payment  of  commissioners  on 
Danish  claims,  289 ;  destruction 
of  public  building  occupied  by, 
296;  new  building  for,  297,  391; 
resources  at  time  of  Jackson's  6th 
annual  message,  376 ;  relation 
with  Post  Office,  390 ;  improve- 
ments for  navigation,  harbors, 
etc.,  defrayed  by,  397  ;  Commis- 
sioners of  Loans  and  Sinking 
Fund,  421;  duties,  483-484;  safe- 
ty of  public  moneys,  279 ;  plans 
for  collection  of  public  funds,  266, 
267  ;  proceeds  from  public  lands, 
312,  314-316;  public  lands  per- 
petual charge  of,  320 ;  president's 
power  of  removal,  341,  342;  pub- 
lic money  brought  into  only  by 
law,  343 ;  status,  342.  343 ;  pay- 
ments of  State  officers  by,  321  ; 
appropriation  by  Congress  neces- 
sary for  withdrawal  of  funds, 
380  ;  powers  of  Congress  over  de- 
posits in,  383. 

Treasury,  Solicitor  of,  establishment 
of  position  recommended,   121. 

Treaties,  powers  of  president,  327, 
489 ;  encouragement  of  foreign 
commerce,  452 ;  need  of  prompt 
execution,  513;  with  Indians,  11 1, 
129,  147,  301,  385;  with  Chero- 
kees,  480  ;  with  Mexico,  on  navi- 
gation and  commerce,  go,  143- 
144;  Mexican  t.oundary,  182,  292, 


365  ;  protection  of  Mexican  fron- 
tier, 453,  454,  477-478;  with  Chili, 
183,  292;  with  Republic  of  Co- 
lombia, 182-183;  with  Morocco, 
364,  455  ;  with  Muscat  and  Siam, 
455  ;  with  Turkey,  181  ;  with  Bel- 
gium, 290,  363-364  ;  with  Austria, 
93,  142,  181  ;  Danish,  on  com- 
merce spoliations,  89-90 ;  with 
France,  283-285,  367-372,  374.  405, 
407-412,  417,  443,  444,  447,  449; 
for  cession  of  Louisiana  (French 
claims),  368;  with  Russia,  286, 
403;  Ghent,  136;  Washington, 
139;  of  1783,  with  regard  to 
northeastern   boundary,   361. 

Tripoli,  U.  S.  hostilities  with,  64. 

Turkey,  sympathy  of  U.  S.,  39 ; 
commerce  with,  82.  88-89,  182; 
treaty  with,  181  ;  relations  with, 
143,   290.    364,   399,   404,  455. 

Turnpike  Road  Bill.  See  Maysville, 
Washington,  Paris  and  Lexing- 
ton Turnpike  Road  Company. 

Tyler,  John,  "  Taney,"  cited,  232. 

U.  S.  courts.  See  Courts  of  law. 

Van  Buren,  Martin,  successor  to 
Jackson,  11  ;  nullification  views, 
17- 

Venezuela,  U.  S.  relations  with,  291, 
404 ;  reunion  with  New  Granada 
and  Ecuador,  365  ;  acknowledg- 
ment of  independence  by  U.  S., 
490. 

Vermont,  tabular  statistics  for  pro- 
posed distribution  of  surplus  rev- 
enue, 486. 

Vessels,  British,  to  be  used  for  com- 
merce with  British  colonies.  84 ; 
commercial  restrictions  on  Amer- 
ican, 85  ;  American  ports  open  to 
British,  87 ;  American,  in  Black 
Sea,  88 ;  American,  captured  by 
Spain,  139;  South  Carolina,  not 
to  be  disturbed  by  federal  govern- 
ment, 206 ;  captured  American, 
285,  367  ;  duties  on  American  and 
Spanish,  287 ;  depredations  on 
American,  engaged  in  Falkland 
Island  fisheries,  293 ;  duties  on 
Dutch  and  Belgian,  403-404 ; 
American,  French  hostilities 
upon,  406 ;  French  prohibited, 
448;  construction  by  navy,  481; 
armored,  at  West  Indies,  481. 

Veto  messages.     See   Messages. 

Veto.  State.     See  State  veto. 

Virginia,  and  nullification,  23,  27 ; 
outgrown  laws  in,  123;  legisla- 
tion of  Di'-trict  of  Columbia,  152; 
cession  01  put/i'-  '"nds,  igo,  307, 
310-31 1,    315,    317;    .    nonstrance 


538 


Index 


(Articles  of  Confederation),  log  • 
carnage  tax,  236;  tabular  statis- 
tics tor  proposed  distribution  of 
surplus  revenue,  486. 

Volunteer  troops  for  South  Caro- 
lina, 208,  210,   211. 

Von  Hoist,  on  "The  Reign  of  An- 
drew Jackson,"  II. 

gation,  391,  398. 

irrU.f-°^^^'''r'  '^^'  variation 
in  relation  to  bank  issues,  46S  • 
effects  of  paper  currency 'upon 
,,  506.  ^-^^  also  Labor. 
War  Department,  order  to  Co- 
operations of,  194;  appropria- 
tions for,  387;  relations  ya'^rmy 

amon'.'^K'4^°=  peace  maintained 
i»r      ?"^  Cherokees.  477 

mcm^'^o"    ^'■°''''^'*^     ^y    g^^e'-n- 
Washington,    Geo,,    on    tariff,   cited 

116     French  criticisms.  414-  fare 
W    I'-  ^dd'-E'ss  cited,  496      ^' 

W  K  fP^"i|h  differences,  139 
Webster,    Daniel,  and  Jackson     i.  • 
reply  to   Calhoun,   .7 ;   speech  fn 


defense    of    Senate    for    its    con 
demnation  of  Jackson,  325  "' 

Weights   and   measures,   standardiz- 
ing   for    custom-house    use,    483, 

^enue'^ol"^"''°"    *°    P^b'"'^    rev- 
,,  enue     191,  324. 

wik  S^'/'^.^y-  ^''  ^^otnnierce 
rrmor./'  ^^',^5,  136;  need  of 
armored  vessels  for  protection  of 
commerce,  481 
West  Point  Military  Academy,  54 
55,  431,  480.  ''    ^^' 

.'07'- "  n"^''  ^'^P,°^^'  '^y  Virginia. 
307.     New     York     claims,     307 

cles  of  r^T'f  T  '■"^^^•°"  ^°  Art': 
cies  ot  Confederation,  309 ;  con- 
flicting claims  trouble  Congress. 
^^^«.^  °''^'"3""  for  sales  of 
Z,^  '  ^'--  proceeds  of  sales  to 
go  to  payment  of  public  dek.  31,  ; 
waste,  common  property  of  U    S 

cle1-i:=  Pt^'"^"*%  t°.  surveyors.' 
clerks     etc.     employed    in    selling 

Whit    c        '''•'''  L^"ds,   Public. 
White,   Senator,  cited,    154 

Win/;   ~r'  ?P^^^''   '"   House,  24. 
Wines,  reduction  of  duties  on,  138- 
from   France,  tariff,   368.  ^    ' 

Woolen  goods,  cash  duties  on.  295 


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